Standard Chartered reports profit of GHC437 million in 2021

Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) recorded a post-tax profit of GHC437 million for the 2021 fiscal year – a 9% dip from the previous year, according to its recently-released audited financial statement for the period.

Despite growing its operating income by 4.7% year-on-year (YoY) to close the year at GHC1.07 billion, fueled by a corresponding 3% growth in interest income to hit GH¢809 million, the lender saw its operating expense for the period shoot up by 32.5% to reach GH¢381.7 million.

SCB’s total assets value breached the GHC10 billion mark, a 26% jump from the GHC8.03 billion recorded in 2020. This happened on the back of growth in cash and cash equivalents (17.6%), loans to other banks (1,508%), loans and advances to customers (11.27%), and investment securities (55.5%).

The bank also witnessed a surge in deposits from customers totaling GHC7.55 billion. This represented a 31.4% appreciation over the GHC5.75 billion recorded in 2020. The Ghana Stock Exchange-listed (GSE) lender also grew its Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) by 8.52 percentage points, ending the year with a CAR of 33.42%.

The bank’s asset quality remained stable as its non-performing loan ratio (NPL) remained unchanged at 23%, this was however higher than the industry average of 15%. Its liquid ratio – the measure of its ability to pay debt obligations and its margin of safety – also inched up by 5.36 percentage points to end the year at 71.05%.

Commenting on the performance, Databank in its note to investors commended SCB for the double-digit growth in its loan book, despite a subdued performance in the final quarter of the year in focus.

“Although the bank’s fourth-quarter profit after tax significantly underperformed our forecast, the strong interest income growth led by the credit portfolio expansion is commendable. We were impressed to see loan book growth recover as the bank softened its conservative stance on lending,” Databank stated.

“The decline in trading income was not surprising given the tightening of spreads on the fixed income market in 2H21, which left little room for market participants to grow trading income. However, we expect trading income to witness recovery as spreads widen and demand for fixed-income securities strengthens due to attractive yields,” Databank added.

The Accra bourse-listed bank saw its ordinary shares end the year at GHC20.30 and its preferential shares (SCBPREF) at GHC0.90, a 3.45% appreciation for the period.

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