By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The board of Ecobank Group has proposed the payment of $28 million to its shareholders for the 2022 fiscal year amid a 13 per cent improvement in profit before tax to $540 million.
In the financial statements of the company released over the weekend, the lender attributed the growth in the pre-tax profit to the results of its “diversified business model.”
According to the bank, in the year under review, its commercial banking business posted solid profit growth of 100 per cent to $134 million, with the consumer banking segment growing by 50 per cent to $130 million.
It was observed that the duo partially offset a decrease of 17 per cent in its corporate and investment banking segment to $333 million.
The reason for this shortfall in the business arm’s PBT was mainly due to impairment charges associated with the government of Ghana’s debt restructuring exercise.
In the statement, Ecobank said last year, it reported net revenues of $1.9 billion despite the difficult position Ghana’s debt restructuring exercise placed the company during the financial year.
“Ecobank’s strong 2022 performance reflects the strength of our diversified business model, growth momentum and efficiency, and was achieved despite operating in a challenging macroeconomic environment, which also included the difficulties that Ghana’s debt restructuring exercise placed on us,” the chief executive of Ecobank Group, Mr Jeremy Awori, said.
