GCB Bank PLC has recorded strong growth in the first nine months of the year, despite a lower-interest-rate environment that limited the increase in interest income. Operating income rose 32.4 per cent year-on-year to GH¢5.70 billion between January and September, while profit before tax increased 42.6 per cent to GH¢2.87 billion. Profit after tax climbed 44 per cent to GH¢1.86 billion, taking earnings per share to GH¢9.38, compared with GH¢6.51 a year earlier. Interest income edged up only 1.3 per cent to GH¢4.39 billion, reflecting the effect of falling market rates. However, interest expense dropped by almost a third to GH¢816 million, helping net interest income increase 14.0 per cent to GH¢3.57 billion. The bank’s results show a growing contribution from non-funded activities. Net fees and commissions income rose 87.4 per cent to GH¢1.07 billion, while trading income increased 71.6 per cent to more than GH¢1.0 billion. Together, those sources accounted for about 37 per cent of operating income, compared with about 27 per cent a year earlier. The 10-percentage-point increase reduces GCB’s reliance on traditional interest margins at a time when lower yields are testing banks’ earnings resilience. Costs also grew more slowly than revenue. Personnel, depreciation and other operating expenses led to a reduction in the cost-to-income ratio, which fell to about 45.1 per cent from 49.2 per cent. GCB’s balance sheet expanded significantly. Customer deposits increased 22.8 per cent from December 2025 to GH¢50.88 billion, supporting a 57.3 per cent rise in net loans and advances to GH¢25.23 billion. Investment securities grew 21.1 per cent to GH¢19.80 billion, while total assets rose 29.0 per cent to GH¢67.62 billion. The bank’s loan growth was considerably faster than the wider industry, whose loan book increased 16.4 per cent year-to-August. Real growth in private-sector credit also strengthened to 13.05 per cent. Asset quality improved, with GCB’s Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) ratio falling to 4.8 per cent from 10.8 per cent a year earlier. That compares with an industry ratio of 15.7 per cent in August, although the impact of rapid lending growth on future impairments remains important. GCB Bank PLC Managing Director Farihan Alhassan said lower rates were pushing banks back towards core commercial banking disciplines. > “The operating environment is demanding that banks do the hard work of banking – understand customers better, price risk appropriately, mobilise funding efficiently, and deploy capital into productive opportunities.

“At GCB, we are committed to winning the right way: helping fund the ambitions of Ghanaian businesses and entrepreneurs while maintaining disciplined underwriting and strong risk standards.” He said the bank’s next priority was to make its loan portfolio more resilient through changing economic and interest-rate cycles. Impairment charges rose to GH¢260 million. Capital adequacy eased to 14.6 per cent from 16.2 per cent a year earlier, while the liquidity ratio fell to 64.3 per cent from 73.4 per cent. GCB expects lower rates and domestic activity to support lending and transaction volumes, but its expanding earnings base will need to be matched by careful underwriting, capital management and liquidity control.