Lending more than doubled since 2024, bad loans fell to 4.8%, and earnings per share climbed 43.3%. The Bank targets at least GH¢3.7 billion PBT for full-year 2026.
GCB Bank PLC increased its lending to businesses and households by 47.7 per cent in the first nine months of 2026, taking its gross loan portfolio to GH¢26.33 billion, as it seeks to grow its core banking business amid declining interest rates.
The expansion helped the bank record profit before tax of GH¢2.87 billion for the nine months to September, representing a 42.6 per cent increase over the same period last year.
At the same time, the bank reduced its non-performing loans (NPL) ratio to 4.8 per cent, from 10.8 per cent a year earlier and 15.06 per cent at the end of 2024.
The improvement in loan quality comes as GCB increases credit to the private sector and households, a move that has become more important as falling interest rates put pressure on traditional sources of banking income.
Presenting its nine-month results to investors and analysts at the Facts Behind the Figures at the Ghana Stock Exchange ( GSE) , the bank said its gross loans had increased by 120.6 per cent since December 2024. Loans now account for 47.4 per cent of its earning assets, compared with 40.6 per cent at the end of 2024.
Managing Director of GCB Bank, Mr Farihan Alhassan, said the bank had deliberately increased lending to Ghanaian businesses while placing greater emphasis on customer services and cost control.
“The easy Treasury era is over, and we saw it coming. We chose to lend more to Ghanaian businesses, to earn more from serving customers well, and to spend every cedi with care,” he said.
The bank’s lending expansion has been supported by a 22.9 per cent increase in customer deposits to GH¢50.78 billion. Current and savings accounts accounted for 93.2 per cent of total deposits, providing the bank with a largely low-cost source of funding.
Total assets increased by 29 per cent since the beginning of the year to GH¢67.62 billion.
Fee income supports earnings growth
GCB is also generating more income from fees, trading and foreign exchange transactions as it responds to the pressure on interest margins.
Non-funded income increased by 81.7 per cent to GH¢2.13 billion, accounting for 37.4 per cent of operating income. This was up 10.1 percentage points from a year earlier.
Total operating income grew by 32.4 per cent to GH¢5.70 billion, while operating expenses increased by 21.3 per cent.
The slower growth in expenses helped improve the bank’s cost-to-income ratio to 45.1 per cent, from 47.9 per cent at the end of 2024.
The figures point to a growing contribution from fees and other banking services to the bank’s earnings, reducing its reliance on interest income.
Bank targets GH¢3.7bn profit
GCB is targeting a minimum profit before tax of GH¢3.7 billion for the full 2026 financial year, based on its performance to September and prevailing operating conditions.
Its nine-month profit of GH¢2.87 billion represents approximately 77.6 per cent of that target, leaving about GH¢830 million to be achieved in the final quarter.
However, management said the outlook remained subject to movements in interest rates, credit conditions, market activity and other developments in the operating environment.
Earnings per share increased by 43.3 per cent to GH¢9.38, while annualised return on equity and return on assets stood at 36.3 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively.
The results form part of the bank’s 2025–2028 strategy, which places emphasis on lending growth, income diversification and operational efficiency.
A key test for the bank will be whether it can sustain the expansion in lending while keeping bad loans under control. Its ability to maintain the current improvement in asset quality will be important to protecting earnings as more of its resources go into loans to businesses and households.
