This represents 100.78 percent compared to GHc263, 181.00 in 2015 representing 90.66 percent. Total income soared by 29.48 percent from GHc2,751,345.00 in 2015 to GHc3,562,341.00 in 2016,  while total expenditure also increased from GHc2,488,164.00 in 2015 to GHC3.1m,060,559.00 in 2016 recording an increase of 23.01per cent .

Total assets of the Bank rose from GHc12, 955,662.00 to GHc15, 251,531.00 in 2016 representing 17.72 percent increase with the shareholders fund rising from GHC936, 212.00 to GHC1,431,111.00 within the same period representing 52.875 percent .

Total investment of the Bank also soared from GHC5, 500,000.00 in 2015 to GHC6, 600,000.00 in 2016,a 20 percent increase. Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr Cosmos Cobbold announced this at the Annual General Meeting(AGM) of the Bank at Tikobo No.1 in the Jomoro District.

He pointed out that the 2016 financial year witnessed shocks in the economy resulting in a rise in inflation and depreciation of the cedi against major currencies, upward adjustment in prices of petroleum products, transport cost, utility tariffs, power outages among others.

Dr Cosmos said with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 3.9 percent in 2016,from 3.5 percent in 2015,general economic activities in the country could best be described as modest. He admitted that in spite of the challenging macro-economic competition and political environment that pertained during the year, the Bank managed to pull yet another satisfactory operational performance in all its financial indicators.

Giving the highlights on advances, the Board Chairman said the Bank continued to provide credit facilities to small and medium scale enterprises, farmers and workers within its catchment area bringing the total amount disbursed to its customers to GHC6,832,927.00 during the year under review.

On the the payment of dividends, Dr cosmos said "while we have worked assiduously over the years to significantly improve on all the key performance indicators of the Bank as evidenced in the financial statements, we are still confronted with issues relating to meeting the minimum paid-up capital and provisions for bad debt."

"For this reason, we regrettably, will not be able to declare dividend at this AGM. The non-declaration of dividend, however, does not mean that individual shareholders have not had any gains. It is important to note distinguished shareholders that your shares in the Bank have increased significantly by reason of the declaration of bonus shares of GHc300, 000.00 over the past  two years alone and this is expected to translate into higher returns on your investments when dividends are declared latest by the next  AGM".

He announced that the Jomoro Rural Bank had been ranked 10th in the Evaluation and Monitoring Unit(EMU) report released by the ARB Apex Bank in December 2016 and June 2017 and used the occasion to express his profound gratitude to the Board, Management, Staff and all stakeholders for their effort.

As part of its corporate social responsibility, the Bank provided assistance to various communities and institutions within its catchment area notably, the construction and furnishing of an ultra modern staff common room for Tikobo No.1 District Assembly Primary and JHS 'A' .

Dr Cosmas said in addition  the Bank utilised an amount of GHc35,070.00 in 2016 as against GHc8,107.22 in 2015 to purchase musical instruments at a cost of GHc500.00,orientation service for teachers in Jomoro District at a cost of GHc1,000.00,supported Jomoro District Farmers Day celebration 2016 with an amount of GHc780.00 with the same amount for the Ellembelle District Farmers Day celebration in 2016 among others.

Projecting into the future, Dr Cosmas noted that "the macro-economic environment in the first nine months of 2017 had been challenging for most financial institutions" explaining that "the 25 percent corporate tax imposed on community and rural Banks, the continued decline in interest rates, the moratorium on small scale mining operators, exchange rate uncertainties, high cost of fuel and utility are expected to affect the operations of the Bank in 2017 and beyond"

He said in spite of the shortfalls, management would continue to roll out products and strategies to enable the Bank remain competitive in the market space , adding that the Bank stands ready to partner government in the implementation of its socio-economic policies such as the school feeding programme, the One-District-One-Factory concept, Planting for Food and Jobs, Free SHS among others.   

"I therefore appeal to Government and District Assemblies in our operational areas to channel some of the funds meant for these projects through the Bank. I also wish to join other rural and community Banks to call on the government to reduce the 25 percent corporate tax imposed on rural and community Banks in the country".

In a congratulatory message, the Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Kojo Mattah, lauded the Board of Directors, Management, Shareholders and Staff of the Bank for the impressive performance posted by the Bank in 2016 and urged them to do more in the years ahead.

He said per the directive of the Bank of Ghana, all Rural and Community Banks should comply with the minimum capital requirement of GHC1,000,000.00 by December 31, 2017 adding , that by March 2017, 47 out of the 141 Banks had complied with the directive and appealed to the remaining Banks to comply to forestall possible regulatory sanctions.

Mr Mattah revealed that ARB Apex Bank has appealed to the government through the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority, to bring the corporate tax down to at most 10 percent.

The Paramount Chief of Western Nzema Traditional Council, Awulae Annor Adjaye III ,lauded the Bank for its splendid performance and advised management to put the right strategies in place to manage risk and thanked the Bank for its continued support towards the council especially during the Kundum festival.

      He urged loan defaulters to settle their debts on time and charged the Bank to arrest those who had decided not to pay the loans.

      The Bank awarded Mr Francis K. Assuah, Head of Credit transactions, as the best staff of the year 2016 for his outstanding performance and presented a NASCO Refrigerator each to Messrs. Amachie Nyamekye and Benjamin Govina as customers of best cordial relationships with the Bank for the year under consideration.