Indigenous bank, CalBank has reiterated its commitment to become a Tier 1 bank soon.

The bank also said it will leverage the foundation built in the first year of retail strategy to scale up in 2022.

Taking its turn at the Ghana Stock Exchange organised Fact’s Behind Figures Programme, Managing Director, Philip Owiredu said the bank will deepen its retail presence by leveraging innovation and customer centricity.

“We have remained resilient amid a global pandemic, thereby making some significant strides on our 3-year strategy. Our aggressive balance sheet growth resulted in the 8^th position in the industry, from the 9^th the following year”, he explained.

The bank also intend creating a digital ecosystem around the bank through partnerships with financial technology firms, telecom firms and other businesses.

Meanwhile, profit before tax of the bank decreased by 6% over the ¢255.6 million achieved the previous year. This was as a result of an increase in operating expenses by 32.3% prior to September 2021.

Total income increased by 10.3% over the previous year revenue of ¢555.7 million. The performance for the period was primarily driven by improved credit business and channel performance.

Also, net impairment loss dropped from ¢48.4 million to ¢39.8 million which represents 18.3%. The improvement in credit loss expense the bank said was partly due to significant recoveries and the improved quality of the stock of new loans.