DERMA BANK MEETS BANK OF GHANA'S REQUIREMENT (PAGE 42, OCT 13, 2010)

THE Derma Area Rural Bank (DARB) Limited in the Tano South District in the Brong Ahafo Region has now met the Bank of Ghana’s (BOG) minimum share capital requirement of GH¢150,000 for all Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) in the country by the end of 2010.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Mr George Amano-Kyeremeh, announced this at the 23rd annual general meeting of the bank at Derma.
He said the bank’s paid-up capital increased from GH¢54,817.88 in December, 2008 to GH¢152,483.17 in December, 2009, representing an increase of GH¢97,665.30 or 178.16 per cent of the 2008 figure.
Mr Amano-Kyeremeh said that was made possible by transferring GH¢80,000 of the income surplus to add up to the share capital while the board of directors also purchased at least GH¢1,000 worth of shares each.
He stated, however, that the board did not recommend the payment of dividend for the year under review, saying “If the performance of your bank continues to improve, the board may recommend the payment of dividend to shareholders by the next AGM.”
Mr Amano-Kyeremeh said the bank also increased its profit after tax from GH¢22,110 in 2008 to GH¢160,678 in 2009 while the bank’s deposits rose from GH¢1,930,529 in 2008 to GH¢2,218,434 in 2009.
He said the bank’s total assets grew by 18 per cent; from GH¢2,175,078 two years ago to GH¢2,563,602 in 2009, while its investments rose from GH¢674,835 in 2008 to GH¢903,756 last year representing an increase of 34 per cent.
Mr Amano-Kyeremeh said last year, the bank was able to grant loans/advances worth GH¢1,198,747 to its customers engaged in agriculture, trading, transport, as well as salaried workers, as against a lending package of GH¢796,295 given out in 2008.
He added that with the current performance, the bank was poised to expand and steps were being taken to upgrade its Tepa mobilisation centre into a full-fledged agency while plans were under way to establish an agency at Penkwase/New Dormaa community in the Sunyani Municipality.
“We are now ready for full online operations when ARB Apex Bank Limited and Millennium Development Account (MIDA) computerisation project takes off,” he added.
The Manager of the Sunyani branch of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Claver Dadzie, who read a speech on behalf of the Managing Director, Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, commended management, staff and shareholders of the bank for the impressive performance over the years.
He reiterated the call on all RCBs to observe the ARB Apex Bank regulations and bye-laws in order to promote decency and sanity in their operations as any deviation or default came along with the imposition of various sanctions and penalties.
The Supervising Manager of the bank, Mr Emmanuel Osei Afriyie, said the bank would continue to introduce innovate products and also improve on its services to the satisfaction of customers and prospective clients.