SUMA RURAL BANK RECORDS MORE PROFIT (PAGE 42, NOV 8, 2010)

THE Suma Rural Bank Limited at Suma Ahenkro in the Jaman North District in the Brong Ahafo Region recorded a profit before tax of GH¢64,217 in 2009 against GH¢21,469 recorded in 2008.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Mr Ofori Asubongteng, announced this at the 24th annual general meeting of shareholders of the bank at Suma Ahenkro.
He said the bank‘s share capital went up from GH¢56,987 as of December, 2008 to GH¢155.903 at the end of 2009 while the total deposits of the bank increased from GH¢1,291,672 to GH¢2,030,841.
Mr Asubonteng further stated that last year, loans and advances given out stood at GH¢1,065,430 compared to the GH¢975,966 granted the previous year.
He said the loans went to various sectors, including transport, agriculture, trading, salaried workers, funerals, medical, as well as micro finance.
Mr Asubonteng announced that investments also increased from GH¢252,000 to GH¢1,081,436 while the total assets grew from GH¢1,887,433 to GH¢2,688,885.
The board chairman stated that the bank had met the Bank of Ghana’s (BOG) minimum capital requirement but urged the shareholders to do more to grow up the capital as the BOG might increase the minimum requirement anytime from now.
He said the bank was constructing a computer science laboratory for the Sumaman Senior High School (SHS) at Suma Ahenkro.
The Senior Manager of the bank, Mr Martin Adjei-Amponsah, announced that GH¢8,519 was paid to shareholders as their dividend.     
Mr Adjei-Amponsah said the bank had planned to open branches at Berekum and Brodi and also set up a special savings for workers dubbed: “WSSA.”
He said the bank purchased Akuafo cheques worth GH¢117,492 as against GH¢34,498 bought in 2008.
Mr Adjei-Amponsah appealed to customers who had obtained loans from the bank to pay back promptly to ensure the continuous existence of the bank and also pave way for others to enjoy the facility.
The Assistant Director of Banking Supervision Department of the BOG, Mr Philip E. Cobbina, called on Board of Directors of rural banks to focus on good corporate governance and risk management to ensure the continuous existence of their banks.
He said in addition to good risk management, the banks must also be seriously concerned with the growth of their capital.
Mr Cobbina stressed the need for banks to constantly grow their capital by either retaining part of their profits or asking shareholders to inject fresh capital.
He commended the shareholders, board members and staff of the bank for their immense contributions which had brought the bank that far and urged them to work harder than before to move the bank forward.
The Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank Limited, Mr Eric Osei Bonsu, in an address read on his behalf, stressed the need for Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) to form corporate merges in order to stay in business.
He said the second quarter of 2010 report on performance showed that of 131 RCBs compiled by the Efficiency Monitoring Unit of ARB APEX Bank, only 91 RCBs nationwide had met the newly paid-up capital requirement of GH¢150,000.