CBG is 5th largest bank by assets

Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) is the country’s fifth-largest bank by assets, according to Business24’s review of banking sector performance for the 2020 financial year.

The bank, which was created by the state in 2018 through a consolidation of seven problem banks within the industry, held GH¢9.96bn of assets on its books in 2020, which represented an increase of 43.5 percent from GH¢6.94bn in 2019. This put the bank in control of 6.7 percent of total industry assets.

Based on their 2020 financial results, Ecobank, GCB, Stanbic, and Absa are the country’s top four banks by assets, holding GH¢15.88bn, GH¢15.32bn, GH¢12.74bn, and GH¢12.55bn respectively on their books as at December last year.

While most of CBG’s assets are in the form of investment securities—mostly government bonds—the bank has been growing its lending rapidly since 2019, with loans and advances rising from GH¢3.55m in 2018 to GH¢227.88m in 2019 and GH¢861.74m in 2020.

In late May, the bank set out its stall as the champion of small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) with the announcement of GH¢120m of funding for the sector this year, collateral-free lending, and reduced transaction cost of credit for these clients.

Under the Digitise SMEs agenda, the bank said it aims to sign on more than 50 percent of its MSME clients to its digital platforms, which it believes will help them improve their operations and become more efficient.

Supporting SMEs to grow will help Ghana reap the benefits of the continental single market project (the African Continental Free Trade Area) which kicked off this year, the bank added.

In 2020 CBG grew its revenue by 10.6 percent to GH¢629.59m, with total expenses increasing by 18.7 percent to GH¢552.87m. This yielded a profit before tax of GH¢76.72m and profit after tax of GH¢46.32m. In 2019 the bank declared a profit before tax of GH¢103.72m and a profit after tax of GH¢69.05m.

Source:Business24