Cal Bank reaffirms commitment of becoming Tier 1 bank

Listed bank, Cal Bank, has reaffirmed its commitment of becoming a Tier One Bank in the not-too-distant future.

According to the indigenous bank, it has also positioned itself to deepen its retail space by leveraging innovation and customer centricity.

As part of its strategy going forward, Cal Bank said it has remained resilient amid a global pandemic, thereby making some significant strides in its 3-year strategy.

However, it is working around the clock to address the challenges facing the bank.

The bank also intimated that its capabilities require strong development of the bank’s internal processes, people, technology, risk management and customer service offerings.

Quarter 3 performance

The bank’s net interest income decreased by 10.0% compared to the same period last year, resulting from a 30.5% decrease in interest from loans and advances.

The decrease in interest on loans and advances is partly attributable to a 12.9% reduction in gross loans due to the sell down of some significant loans in the last quarter of 2020, and partly due to a drop in the Ghana Reference Rate (GRR) from 14.77% in September 2020 to 13.46% at the end of September 2021.

Net commissions and fees increased by 34.9% against prior year on account of increased activities in the bank’s electronic banking services.

Net trading income and other income grew by over 119.8% when compared to prior-year. This was primarily driven by significant increases in fixed income trading activities.

Income tax expense for the period increased by 38.2% compared to the same period last year albeit profit before tax increased by 26.2% for the same period. The increase in the tax expense is attributable to the introduction of the 5% Financial Sector Recovery Levy on the profit before tax of banks.

However, the balance sheet remained robust, with total assets of the group increasing from 7.6 billion to 8.7 billion. This represents an increase of 13.9% during the review period and funded by the significant increase in deposits of 37.5%.

Presently, Cal Bank has 31 branches in 4 regions of the country with 107 Automated Teller Machines. Its market capitalization is presently 476.20 million. Its present share price is 76 pesewas per share.