Despite the impact of covid-19 on the economy, Ecobank Ghana registered an impressive 22% growth in profit for last year.
This is due to a significant increase in interest income during the period.
According to its 2020 Financial Statement, the bank’s Return on Equity- an important profitability indicator for shareholders- also grew by 26.0%.
Ecobank which is Ghana’s biggest bank according to the 2020 PwC Banking Survey benefited tremendously from interest in investments and loans last year as it shot up by 26% yeaar-on-year to GH ¢1.55 billion.
The strong growth in earnings resulted in an increased earnings per share of GH ¢1.69 in December 2020, compared with GH ¢1.40 pesewas a year ago. This means shareholders of the bank will be smiling with additional 29 pesewas gains.
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Importantly, the bank was able to reduce its provision for bad debt, from about GH¢215 million in December 2019 to GH¢178 million last year.
The balance sheet size stood a little over GH ¢29.3 billion, cementing its position as Ghana’s biggest bank.
It customer deposits grew by 21% to hit GH¢11.3 billion at the end of December 2020.
In terms of stability of the bank, non-performing loans fell to a low 6.20%, lower than the industry average of 15.5%.
Capital Adequacy Ratio-a measurement of a bank’s available capital to its Risk Weighted Assets, was way above the industry average at 19.10% in December 2020, signifying a stronger bank.
Overall, the bank is highly liquid as customers can easily demand for their deposits anytime, any day.