Anlo Rural Bank is the best

Keta, Sept 26, GNA - The decade old Anlo Rural Bank has been ranked the overall best performing rural bank in Ghana, according to the ARB Apex Bank 2011 second quarter rating of Rural and Community Banks (RCBs).

It scored excellent in cost and incomes ratio, capital adequacy, deposit and advances, investment returns and bad debt ratios while gaining two and three in returns on assets and equity respectively.

The Bank was ranked the second strongest in the country in the first quarter ratings and the first in the Volta Region in the same period.

The Bank’s outgoing Board Chairman, Mr William Fugar, said this at the Bank’s 10th Annual General Meeting in Keta.

He said the Bank’s total assets grew by 33.4 percent from Ghc 2,344,663 in 2009 to Ghc 3,128,787 in 2010 while it gained 35.14 percent growth in commission fees from Ghc 43,616 to Ghc 58,941.

Net interest moved 20.83 percent from GHc 373,061 to Ghc 450,770 with interest income also jumping 19.67 percent from Ghc 339,552 to Ghc 406,336.

Mr Fugar said the bank exceeded the Bank of Ghana’s statutory liquid reserve and capital adequacy ratio of 10 percent by 19.75 percent at 48.54 percent respectively.

Operating expenses went up 31.87 percent from Ghc 238,139 to Ghc 314,024 while it registered a marginal net profit of 0.83 percent from Ghc 187,106 to Ghc 188,657.

Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, Managing Director, APEX Bank, commended the excellent performance of the Bank but called for control and reduction in operation expenses that he blamed for the marginal profit the Bank made.

He said there was more room for improvement in the Bank’s performance in the areas of commission and fee-based income, deposit mobilization and credit administration and micro-finance business development.

Mr Osei-Bonsu appealed to the banks to improve on customer care, adding that the Apex Bank computerization programme to improve performance and networking of the system remained on course in 60 banks with 374 branches so far computerized with Anlo Bank to benefit this year.