Banking and Finance

Banking industry profit moderate to GH¢7.2bn in June 2026

Dr. Johnson Asiama
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The banking industry’s profit stood at GH¢7.1 billion at the end of June 2026, marginally lower than the GH¢7.2 billion recorded during the same period a year earlier, the Bank of Ghana has disclosed in its July 2026 Monetary Policy Report.

Consequently, the profit after tax growth turned negative, contracting by 1.3% compared with the 32.6% growth recorded in June 2025.

Similarly, profit-before-tax (PBT) declined on a year-on-year basis, recording a contraction of 1.5% in June 2026, in contrast to the 32.2% growth observed in the corresponding period of 2025.

Apart from fees and commissions income, which recorded a higher growth rate during the review period, all major income lines expanded at a slower pace in June 2026 relative to the corresponding period in 2025.

The fees and commissions income grew by 18.2% in June 2026, compared with 17.8% a year earlier. In contrast, growth in net interest income moderated significantly, contracting by 3.1% in June 2026 after recording a growth of 20.2% in June 2025.

This development reflected the slowdown in interest income growth, largely attributable to the prevailing low interest rate environment during the review period. Similarly, “other income” recorded a slower rate of growth compared with the corresponding period in 2025.

Similarly, the growth in the banking industry's cost components moderated in June 2026 relative to the corresponding period in 2025.

The operating expenses increased at a slower pace, with growth easing to 6.0 percent in June 2026 from 21.4 percent a year earlier. The moderation reflected slower growth in staff costs, while non-staff-related expenses contracted during the review period.

In contrast, the provisions for depreciation, bad debts and impairment losses on financial assets increased substantially, growing by 38.2% in June 2026, compared with a 14.8% contraction recorded in June 2025.

Return on Assets and Return on Equity

The profitability indicators for the banking sector moderated in June 2026, reflecting the slowdown in earnings growth during the review period.

The banking industry’s Return on Equity (ROE) declined to 22.9% in June 2026 from 32.2% in June 2025.

Similarly, Return on Assets (ROA) decreased to 4.4 percent from 5.6 percent over the same period.

Interest Margin and Spread Interest

The spread for the banking industry narrowed from 6.0% in June 2025 to 4.4% in June 2026.

The decrease in spread resulted from the marginal decline in interest payable to 1.7% from 2.8% a year earlier.

The gross yields also declined to 6.1% in June 2026 compared to 8.9% a year ago. The ratio of gross income to total assets (asset utilisation) also dropped from 7.4% to 5.4% whereas the profitability ratio recorded a marginal increase from 25.3% in June 2025 to 25.9% in June 2026.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.