Bia-Torya Community Bank makes strides

Page 29, 29/01/12
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Bia-Torya Community Bank in the Western Region recorded profit of GH¢412,431.51 as against GH¢316,298.82 recorded in 2009.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, Mr Samuel Danquah, said the assets of the bank also grew from GH¢7.34 million to GH¢16.89 million during the period under review.
Addressing the 6th Annual General Meeting of the bank at Sefwi Bonsu Nkwanta in the Juabeso District, he said, the bank also increased its deposit base from GH¢6.1 million to GH¢13.3 million.
In addition, loans and advances increased from GH¢450,870.64 to GH¢1,267,786.57, representing an 181 per cent increase over the previous figure.
The chairman pledged that officials of the bank would continue to work hard in order to maintain its enviable status among rural and community banks in the country.
In an address read on his behalf, the acting Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Duke Osam-Duodu, said the domestic money transfer being operated between the ARB Apex Bank and the rural and community banks was receiving steady patronage.
He said the system had indeed come to fill a void in the money transfer business.
Mr Osam-Duodu stated that the impressive performance of the bank had made it to be ranked as fifth out of the 13 rural banks in the Western Region and 10th among the 133 rural banks nationwide.
He said that notwithstanding, a lot of work still needed to be done in the area of capitalisation if the bank wanted to be considered one of the best rural banks in the country.
“It is only by improving the capital base of the bank that will enable you to open more agencies to better serve the unbanked and under-bank members of your operational communities,” he said.
For his part, the Senior Manager of the bank, Mr A.K. Foli, appealed to loan defaulters to pay their loans to enable others get more assistance from the bank to expand their farms and businesses.
He called on shareholders and the general public to buy more shares from the bank.