Banks profit dips

Banks profit went down for the first seven months of this year.

They recorded 50 percent growth between January and July compared with 82.9 percent growth in July 2012.

According to the latest Bank of Ghana Financial Stability report, indicators of profitability for the banking industry were mixed for the period ending July 2013.

The industry’s net interest income however shot up by 60.5 percent in July 2013 compared with 23.5 percent growth in July last year.

Interest income from loans and advances continued to be the main source of income for the industry, constituting 50 percent of total income in July 2013. This is compared with 44.7 percent in July 2012.

Return on assets also increased to 4.1 percent as at the end of July from 3.5 percent in July 2012.Similarly, return on equity increased to 37.5 percent in July 2013 from 34.4 percent in July 2012.

In conclusion, the Bank of Ghana said the banking sector performance was strong in the first seven months of the year, with increased competition, asset growth, improved liquidity, profitability and capital adequacy.

It added the industry’s asset quality continues to improve on account of reduction in non-performing loans.

However, it called for more efforts to sustain the current quality of loans against the back drop of increases in lending rate.