Banks begin releasing 2022 financial statements; DDEP pushes many into losses

Banks in the country have begun releasing their 2022 Financial Statement ahead of the April 30, 2023 deadline by the Bank of Ghana.

But the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) has impacted negatively on their profitability position.

According to the 2022 Audited Financial Statements, almost all the banks that have published their statements recorded losses.

Standard Chartered Bank is one of them, as it recorded a loss of ¢66.4 million in 2022, compared to a profit of ¢410.8 million in 2021.

This is despite recording a staggering ¢807.7 million interest income in 2022.

As a result of the effect of the DDEP, the tier one bank made an impairment of ¢1.18 billion in 2022.

Similarly, Republic Bank registered a loss of ¢66.8 million in 2022.

It posted a net interest income of ¢370.6 million, but a ¢237 million loss on financial assets and other costs triggered the loss.

Again, GCB Bank lost ¢568 million in 2022, despite recording net interest income of ¢2.09 billion.

FNB, Stanbic, Zenith heavily impacted by DDEP

Parent companies of First National Bank, Stanbic, Zenith and Guaranty Trust Bank have already hinted of significant losses by their Ghana subsidiaries due to the impact of the DDEP on their operations. This will therefore require additional capital injection to turn things around.

For instance, Standard Bank said it was ready to re-capitalise its Ghanaian unit after making provisions to cover more than half of its holdings in the nation’s debt.

FirstRand Limited, Africa’s biggest bank by market capitalization, also hinted of writting off more than half the value of its holdings of Ghanaian bonds as the country grapples with a restructuring of its sovereign debt.

The banks had also indicated of slowing down lending until the Ghanaian economy improves.

The loss position of the banks means shareholders may not enjoy dividend for the 2022 financial year.

Societe Generale records ¢110.6m

Meanwhile, Societe Generale Bank is one of the few banks that recorded a profit in 2022.

The bank which was less exposed to the Government of Ghana bonds registered a profit of ¢110.6 million, lower than the ¢183.8 million recorded in 2021.

Reports had earlier indicated that banks in Ghana lost about ¢15 billion in 2023 due to the DDEP.