GCB Bank posts record profit - Grows total assets by 58% in 2024

GCB Bank PLC has announced outstanding financial results for 2024, marking a significant milestone as the bank concludes the final year of its four-year strategic cycle.

The audited financial results released yesterday show the Bank achieved a record-high Profit Before Tax (PBT) of GH¢1.91 billion, a 25.3 per cent year-on-year increase.

This remarkable performance highlights the bank's resilience in a challenging and uncertain operating environment, which included a major regulatory change that impacted liquidity industry-wide.

Revenue for the year grew by 19 per cent, driven by a 19.02 per cent increase in interest income, a 42.72 per cent surge in non-funded income, and an 8.41 per cent increase in net trading income.

These gains reflect GCB Bank’s continued focus on operational excellence and its ability to adapt to market conditions.

Strategic Focus Drives Balance Sheet Expansion

The bank’s strategic shift in 2024 towards a strong sales and customer-centric approach has significantly contributed to deposits and loan book expansion, positioning GCB Bank to reclaim its dominance in Ghana's banking sector.

As a result, the bank’s balance sheet grew by 58 per cent year-on-year, reaching GH¢42.58 billion, representing an 11.58 per cent share of the industry’s total assets.

This outpaced the 33.79 per cent growth in industry-wide assets. GCB’s loan book grew by 52.83 per cent year-on-year to GH¢10.2 billion, securing an 11.85 per cent share of the total industry loans.

Total deposits increased by GH¢12.73 billion to reach GH¢34.63 billion in 2024, reflecting a 58.1% year-on-year growth, which compares favourably with the industry-wide deposit growth of 28.76 per cent.

Improved Asset Quality and Stronger Capital Position

The strong financial performance in 2024 has further solidified GCB Bank’s capital position. Shareholders' equity surged by 44.72 per cent year-on-year to GH¢4.05 billion, translating into a year-end Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 15.23per cent without relief, comfortably above the regulatory minimum of 13 per cent.

This marks a significant step in the bank’s ability to operate without reliance on regulatory forbearance.

Asset quality continues to improve, with our Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio declining by 5.1 per cent year-on-year to 15.1 per cent.

By maintaining a proactive approach to risk management, the bank expects to sustain the improvement in asset quality.

GCB’s Earnings Per Share (EPS) increased to GH¢4.56, while the Return on Equity (RoE) stood at 35.29 per cent, reflecting efficient capital utilisation.

The Return on Assets (RoA) for the year was 3.48 per cent.

Focus on Sustained Profitability Amid Rising Costs

The 2024 performance continues the resilience GCB has shown in rebounding strongly from the economic crisis despite the prevailing challenges in the operating environment. Investments in the systems, people, and technology have set a strong base for growth as we transition into a new strategy cycle from 2025.

While the record profit came within the context of increasing costs from interest expense, fees and commission expense, and other operating expenses, in part, reflect the prevailing market dynamics, efficiency in operations and the use of capital and cost control remain topical themes as the bank transitions into a new strategy cycle. 

With the steady improvement in the operating environment expected to unlock growth opportunities, the bank’s sustainable and customer-focused approach to driving deposit and revenue growth via digitalization, proactive sales, ecosystem incubation, and market diversification are expected to come to the fore.

Thus, this renewed sales and customer service focus with technology as the enabler, is expected to sustain profitability through the next phase of the Bank’s strategy amidst the ongoing cost efficiency drive through streamlined processes and effective cost control.

Commenting on the results, Managing Director of GCB Bank,  Farihan Alhassan, stated: “2024 has been a truly exceptional year for GCB Bank.

These stellar results represent the best performance in our history in nominal terms, marking a significant achievement in our journey.

However, we recognize areas where we need improvement. This performance notwithstanding, there is still room for improvement in our efficiency metrics. 

The MD gave an assurance that, with the sizeable investment in systems, talents and people, the bank is on course to enhance efficiency within our network”. Mr  Alhassan concluded,

“Overall, 2024 was a strong year, and we are determined to build on this momentum as we look to the future and continue to drive growth in the years ahead.”