ARB Apex Bank Limited made significant gains in the 2011 financial year, recording a profit before tax of GH¢4.021 million, which represents a 15 per cent increase over the 2010 figure of GH¢1,595 million.

Mr Nathaniel Arthur, Board Chairman of the Bank, announced this at the weekend during the 10th Annual General Meeting of the Bank held in Accra. Total assets of the Bank grew from GH¢129.8 million in 2010 to GH155.8 million in 2011, representing a 20 per cent increase.

Mr Arthur said, “Total deposits recorded amounted to GH¢120.3 million as against GH¢99.8 million in 2010, an increase of 21 per cent”.

He added that shareholders’ fund was GH¢193 million as compared with GH¢15.5 million in 2010 which was an increase of 24 per cent.

Mr Arthur disclosed that management of ARB Apex Bank would soon roll-out a seamless mobile banking application to all rural and community banks as a platform for Short Message Service alerts and other mobile phone-based products.

He said the future of the ARB Apex Bank Limited was bright considering projected impressive growth rates of the Bank’s balance sheets, adding “already the bank has made a profit of GH¢6 million as of the third quarter”.

Mr Arthur announced that the Bank was currently an International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)-compliant. IFRS are designed as a common global language for business affairs so that company accounts are understandable and comparable across international boundaries.

The Standards had become necessary due to the growing international shareholding and trade and are particularly important for companies that have dealings in several countries.

IFRS are progressively replacing the many different national accounting standards and are the rules to be followed by accountants to maintain books of accounts which are comparable, understandable, reliable and relevant.

Mr Duke Osam-Duodu, Acting Managing Director of ARB Apex Bank Limited, said the Bank was in the process of developing strategies to enable the rural community banks to sustain their current business lines for the delivery of products and services to the public.

The business lines included a Central Share Registry to manage rural community banks’ share registers, custodial services to serve as custodians for the second and third tiers of the new pension scheme on behalf of the employees of the Bank, and an insurance management to offer brokerage services for the community banks’ insurance products to ensure economies of scale or scope.

Others included Rural Finance Wholesale Fund to provide revolving and medium-term loans to rural community banks for on-lending to their clients and long –term funds to support commercial farmers.

Mr Osam-Duodu said the bank was collaborating with the World Bank, German Development Co-operation (GIZ), and Danish International Development Agency for the implementation of the business lines.