Share analysis: Standard Chartered Bank Ghana – finance

The Bank

Standard Chartered Bank Ghana has been in operation since 1896 when it was known as the Bank of British West Africa. After Ghana’s independence, the bank’s name was changed to Bank of West Africa Limited and upon a merger with Standard Bank in 1969, the name was changed to Standard Bank of West Africa Limited.

The bank was registered a limited liability company in Ghana on September 18, 1970 under the Companies Act. The bank became a member of the Standard Chartered Group after a merger between Standard Bank and the Chartered Bank. The Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Limited name was adopted in 1985 as part of the group’s effort to achieve a common identity worldwide. The bank is the oldest bank in Ghana.

Standard Chartered Bank provides a wide range of services in the consumer, corporate and institutional banking segments including comprehensive trade finance, cash management services and foreign exchange products through the bank’s treasury operations. The bank operates through 27 computerised and networked branches and 56 ATMs located in the main regions of Ghana and employs over 1000 staff.

The capital structure of the bank has ordinary and preference shares listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. The bank was listed on the exchange on August 23, 1991 and subsequently listed preference shares on February 16, 2006. The bank’s retail clients segment serves the banking needs of personal, priority, international and business customers, The bank’s commercial clients segment focuses on helping mid-sized local companies grow, especially as they expand across borders. The bank’s corporate and institutional clients segment focuses on building core banking relationships.

The revenue of the bank for FY14 increased by 24% from GHS420.1m ($116.6m) in the previous year to GHS521.7m. ($144.8m). Net interest income grew by 19% to GHS333.8m ($92.6m) in FY14 on the back of 13% growth in loans and advances in the same period. The bank’s deposits increased by 24% in FY14 to GHS2.2bn ($610m) over the FY13 figure of GHS1.8bn ($499.5m). Loans and advances constitute about 58% of customer deposits.

In FY14, 60.9% of the bank’s total revenue was from corporate and institutional clients while 29% was from retail clients. The total assets of the bank increased 17% to GHS3.5bn ($971.3m) and operating income grew by 24% from GHS420m ($116.6m) to GHS521.7m ($144.8m).

Development Strategy

The bank launched a comprehensive programme called Raising the Bar on Conduct to sustain success as a business. This strategy consists of conduct standards to which all staff in the group are held to. Significant resources are being invested to improve operating systems and processes. The bank’s key priorities are to deliver performance, consolidate organisational restructuring and to improve overall operating efficiency. The main objectives are to streamline key functions and invest in scalable technology.

Forecast

Revenue is estimated to grow modestly at 24.47% in FY15 to GHS649.4m ($180m) from GHS521.7 ($144.8) due to macroeconomic volatility, which will create some disruptions to productivity as well as escalating energy costs due to reliance on off-grid power solutions. We estimate bank deposits to increase by 4.40% in 2015 and this will contribute to loans and advances, and therefore, to an increase in profitability.

Revenue growth will still be a challenge in 2015 and in view of our model, we expect EBITDA to rise 24.60%. EPS for FY15 is estimated at 1.79 which is marginal growth of 0.6 over the FY14 figure of 1.78; this is as a result of an expected increase in customer deposits as well as loan and advances.