Despite the ravaging impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial sector, Ghana’s sole agriculture bank, the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) has recorded a 400 percent increase in profit after tax for the year 2020.
GHS65.5 million was declared for 2020 as against GHS14.9 million recorded in 2019.
This was announced by the former Board Chairman of ADB, Alex Bernasko during the Bank’s 34th Annual General Meeting on Thursday.
Alex Bernasko
“The Bank was more profitable, posting a profit after tax of GHS65.4 million compared to GHS14.9 million in 2019. This represented over 400% growth in performance in 2020, occasioning a Return on Equity and Return on Assets of 7.69% and 1.14% as against 1.87% and 0.32% in that order respectively.”
Managing Director of the Bank, Dr. John Kofi Mensah, on the sidelines of the event, outlined some strategies the bank has put in place to engineer sustainable growth of the institution.
“We would want to secure the capital of the Bank and make it more robust to absorb any shocks. The basis of that is profitability. We are also moving the human capital base so that human capital will be ready for the new developments that are coming up. We need to train more staff who are vexed in agribusiness. We need to introduce new structures.”
Dr John Kofi Mensah
The Agricultural Development Bank posted an impressive financial performance from last year even in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic that has negatively impacted all sectors of the economy, including the financial sector.
Already, the Bank has recorded an 80% increase in profit in the first half of 2021; the highest jump so far if compared to the 2020 figures.
It recorded GHS55.7 million for the first half of this year, up from the GHS30.96 million recorded in the same period in 2020.