Operating income increased by 17 per cent to GHC 621 million from GHC 531 million recorded in December 2016 while operating expenses decreased by 15 per cent to GHC 194 million compared to GHC 227million in 2015. The strong performance of the Bank was a result of continuous cost efficiency measures implemented throughout the year.

Mr Ishmael Yamson, Board Chairman of StanChart, speaking at the Annual General Meeting said the 2016 results clearly showed that the Bank had made great strides in the execution of its strategy of putting the business back on a growth trajectory, in line with trends that shareholders were used to.

The Bank made noteworthy improvement in 2016 against the backdrop of strong headwinds experienced in the year under review; a direct result of the strategic actions taken to turn the business around following two years of slow growth, he explained.

The Bank recorded an impairment charge below the previous year’s figure of GHC212 million, by 62 per cent to GHC81 million; with the IFRS provision for bad and doubtful debt as at December 2016, being lower than the BoG classification.

Impairment losses fell by 71 per cent year-on-year to GHC46 million in 2016 from GHC159 million in 2016. The reduction was the result of collections as well as successful restructuring of some key government-linked over-dues.

Earnings per share grew by 256 per cent to GH1.92 from GH 0.54 from 2015 and return on equity more than doubled to 34 per cent from 12 per cent in 2015.  The board of the Bank declared dividend on ordinary shares of GH 1.12 compared to GH 0.37 paid out last year.

Mr Kweku Nimfah-Essuman, Chief Financial Officer, stated: “The bank committed to a set of actions at the end of 2015 designed to stabilise its financial performance. As a result of disciplined execution in 2016, we delivered income stability, lower cost and a higher quality balance sheet in an uncertain economic environment”.

Ms Mansa Nettey, Chief Executive Officer of the Bank said the financial entity maintain its focus on a robust balance sheet to support opportunistic asset growth and will roll out additional innovations in technology in 2017, as well as efficiently engage its clients across digital channels.

She reiterated the bank’s commitment to continue to “invest in our staff and put clients at the heart of everything we do; creating memorable experiences for both clients and stakeholders”.

The Bank, in the year under review, made significant investment in digital technology by rolling out the new Standard Chartered Mobile Application (SC Mobile) and the revamping of its online banking platform.

It also rolled out its first Touch ID/ Finger Print Log in Service on SC Mobile, which would enable clients to log-in quickly and securely with fingerprint recognition technology instead of the traditional username and password, introduced wealth management online client investments profiling and deployed additional cash deposit machines and intelligent ATMs.