GCB Bank PLC has reported a strong financial performance for the first half of 2026, posting a profit after tax of GH¢1.23 billion.
The figure represents a 46.4 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year despite a significant decline in interaest rates across the banking industry.
In a statement, the bank indicated that its latest half-year financial results showed that profit before tax also rose by 45.8 per cent to GH¢1.91 billion, while operating income increased by 36.1 per cent to GH¢3.73 billion, reflecting its ability to sustain earnings growth in a challenging operating environment.
The performance comes at a time when Treasury bill yields, the Ghana Reference Rate and average lending rates all declined sharply, putting pressure on banks that depend heavily on interest income.
The bank’s half-year financial performance came against the fact that the first half of 2026 presented Ghanaian banks with a different test of earnings resilience.
Treasury-bill yields collapsed, the Ghana Reference Rate (GRR) fell by nearly 14 percentage points year-on-year to 10.02 per cent, while average lending rates declined to 15.6 per cent.
Resilience
GCB, in a statement, said it weathered the lower interest rate environment by reducing funding costs and significantly expanding income from fees, commissions and trading activities.
It revealed that interest income rose modestly by 4.1 per cent to GH¢2.91 billion, while interest expenses declined by 28.9 per cent to GH¢564.7 million, adding that this pushed net interest income up by 17.3 per cent to GH¢2.34 billion, helping to cushion the impact of falling market rates.
The statement further explained that the bank’s non-funded income emerged as a key driver of growth during the period as net fee and commission income nearly doubled, increasing by 98 per cent to GH¢658.7 million, while trading income climbed 76.8 per cent to GH¢701.9 million.
“Together, non-funded income rose by about 86 per cent to GH¢1.39 billion, contributing 37.3 per cent of operating income, up from 27.2 per cent a year earlier. This was a material shift in the earnings mix,” it added.
The statement said the improved earnings mix reflected GCB’s growing ability to generate more revenue from customer transactions and other banking services rather than relying predominantly on interest income.
It said the bank also recorded improvements in operational efficiency, with total operating expenses rising by 20.5 per cent, well below the growth in operating income.
Consequently, its cost-to-income ratio improved to 43.7 per cent from 49.4 per cent over the same period last year.
On the balance sheet, the bank indicated that customer deposits increased by 24.5 per cent from December 2025 to GH¢51.49 billion, enabling total assets to grow by 28.7 per cent to GH¢67.43 billion.
It added that net loans and advances expanded by 35.4 per cent to GH¢22.19 billion, while investment securities rose by 31.1 per cent to GH¢21.44 billion.
“More importantly, the quality of that growth improved.
The non-performing loan ratio fell to 4.7 per cent from 13.8 per cent a year earlier, placing GCB well below the industry average of 16.1 per cent at the end of the first half of the year,” it said.
The bank further stated that although capital adequacy moderated to 15.9 per cent following rapid asset growth and shareholder distributions, it remained comfortably above the regulatory minimum of 13 per cent.
The statement stressed that the results demonstrated GCB’s ability to maintain earnings momentum, strengthen its balance sheet, and diversify its revenue sources despite the challenging interest rate environment, positioning the bank for sustained growth in the second half of the year.