Ernest Best Anane
5 November 2009
Accra — THE SEKYERE Rural Bank has embarked on a serious loan recovery exercise to bail the bank from distress.
The Board Chairman of the bank, Mr. Kwame Dapaa Siakwan, has therefore appealed to all loan defaulters of the bank, to settle their obligations to avoid any embarrassment.
He said at the 20th Annual General Meeting of the bank that factors from both external and local environments, including default payment of loans, presented a lot of challenges to the bank.
The most outstanding of the said challenges, he said, was the effect of the decongestion exercise, which had virtually thrown most of their loan beneficiaries out of business, making it difficult to locate some of the defaulters, who have as a result, relocated to their towns and villages.
He indicated that the profit and loss account statement of the bank, showed a decrease in a profit of GH¢612,177, the previous year to GH¢392,532. This, he said, was as a result of an increase in the default rate of more than 362%.
The Chairman reported that bad debts of GH¢126,023 was debited to the profit and loss account, while overheads also increased considerably, due to incessant power fluctuations and the cost of doing business.
He said a lot of funds were channeled to the Kronom Branch project, and improvement in the structures at the bank, with cost of computerisation taking a toll on their finances. Meanwhile, the Kronom branch would be opened soon, according to the Chairman.
He further revealed that the total assets grew by 18.4%, and total deposits inched up by 10.7%, while advances increased by 7.4%, with stated capital increasing by 60.9%.
The Chief Executive of the Bank, Mr. Kobese Antwi, also said the bank was continuing with its contribution towards the development of the communities in its catchment areas.
He said the bank renovated the Jamasi Police Station at the cost of GH¢1,500, and donated GH¢570 to the national Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) celebrations, as well as supporting the Best Teachers awards in Kumasi, with GH¢480, and a donation of GH¢2,000 towards anniversary of the Adu Gyamfi Senior High School.
Meanwhile, the directors of the bank have proposed to maintain a dividend payment of GH¢0.0023 per share, as implemented last year.
An amount of GH¢71,800 has therefore been set aside for the payment of dividends, even though profit declared was less than that of last year.
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