GCB Bank PLC has approved a GHS1 per share dividend for the 2024 financial year, pending regulatory approval from the Bank of Ghana, marking a return to payouts after a two-year hiatus.

The move, announced at the bank’s 31st Annual General Meeting in Accra, comes on the back of a record-breaking performance that saw the indigenous lender post a profit before tax of GHS1.9 billion — a 23.3% year-on-year increase.

If approved, the dividend will amount to GHS265 million and represent a yield of 15.7 percent — a strong signal of the bank’s restored financial strength following the shocks of the domestic debt exchange.

It also reflects growing investor confidence as GCB Bank executes its strategy to reclaim industry leadership. In 2024, the bank climbed to second place among peers in key metrics including deposits, loans, and total assets.

The bank’s Managing Director, Farihan Alhassan, described the 2024 performance as the strongest in GCB’s history in nominal terms. He noted that while the results reflected solid fundamentals and effective execution, there was still room to enhance cost efficiency. Management, he added, is committed to deepening investments in talent, systems, and service delivery to sustain momentum.

Board Chairman, Professor Joshua Alabi, acknowledged the strong progress made over the last strategy cycle. He emphasized the opportunity to build on these gains by focusing on customer experience, digitalisation, and enhanced sales efforts as part of the bank’s new growth agenda.

Under its just-ended four-year strategy, GCB expanded its loan book by 52.8% to GHS10.2 billion and grew total deposits by 58.5% to GHS34.5 billion. Total assets rose to GHS42.8 billion — a 57.6% increase that outpaced the industry average. Shareholders’ equity also surged by 41% to GHS4.3 billion, strengthening the bank’s capital adequacy ratio to 15.23%, well above the regulatory minimum of 13%.

The AGM also marked the appointment of ten new directors to the reconstituted board, including Alhassan as Managing Director and Alabi as Board Chairman. The restructured leadership is expected to drive the next phase of GCB’s strategic roadmap from 2025 to 2028, anchored on customer-centricity, digital transformation, and people development.

The bank’s return on equity reached 32.4%, while return on assets stood at 3.4%. Asset quality also improved, with the non-performing loan ratio dropping to 15.1%, down from the previous year.

In 2024, GCB Bank invested GHS12 million in corporate social responsibility projects, focusing on education, health, sports, social inclusion, and entrepreneurship. Key interventions included textbook donations, funding for medical treatments, and support for youth enterprise initiatives such as “The Entrepreneurship in You” program.