Sierra
Leone Commercial Bank Presents Dividends
By Marian Samu
Monday,
30th May 2005: The Sierra Leone Commercial
Bank Ltd., Sierra Leone's first indigenous bank,
owned and managed by Sierra Leoneans has over
the years being growing steadily to gain the
confidence of the people and achieve international
banking standards.
The
chairman of the Board of Directors, on behalf
of the Board of Directors, Management and Staff
of the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank on Monday,
30th May 2005, presented the dividend cheque
of 3.6 billion Leones to President Kabbah as
dividend for the year 2004, payable to Government
as its sole shareholder.
Presenting
the dividend for the year 2004, the chairman
of the Board of Directors, Mr Victor Jamina,
informed President Kabbah that tremendous strides
were made in their operational and profitability
levels as well as in their expansion of banking
services to the nation during the year 2004,
in addition to financial assistance rendered
to institutions and organizations in various
parts of the country.
The
chairman stated that the bank made significant
increases in almost all of its operational areas.
While their Share Capital and Reserves remained
the same but statutorily adequate at 1 billion
and 5.7 billion Leones respectively, their retained
earnings increased from 15 to 17.7 billion Leones
in 2004, giving the bank's total Equity an increase
from 21.8 billion Leones in 2003 to 24.4 billion
Leones in 2004. The chairman also said that
their total assets grew from 116.8 billion Leones
in 2003 to 150.3 billion Leones in 2004. With
regards to Loans and Advances to customers,
they were able to increase from 20.5 billion
Leones in 2003 to 35.3 billion Leones in 2004,
a percentage increase of 72% on the year 2003.
He
further told President Kabbah that the increases
in their Loans and Advances figure took due
cognizance of the importance and premium placed
on investments in agriculture so as to achieve
the food self-sufficiency drive by 2007, and
the mining sector as these areas were heavily
devastated during the rebel war.
Speaking
about their operating profit, chairman Jamina
said that through the prudent management of
the Managing Director and his colleagues, they
were able to increase their profit from Le 5.6
billion in 2003 to Le.11.4 billion in 2004,
representing an increase of 104% on the previous
year.
Mr.
Jamina further stated that after the payment
of corporate tax of Le.5.1 billion and retention
for expansion and other contingencies, the Board
on the advice of the Management was pleased
to make their first and final dividend payment
to Government, their only shareholder, in the
sum of Le.3.6 billion for the year 2004 as compared
to Le.1.3 billion in 2003. This payment, he
said, represents a percentage increase of 177%
on the previous year's figure.
The
chairman also used this opportunity to highlight
various achievements of the bank during the
year 2004. These include the establishment of
the Lightfoot Boston Street branch, the extension
of the Siaka Steven Street branch, the opening
of the Makeni branch and the commencement of
rehabilitation work on the Kenema branch building
which has proved to be incommodious for the
growing number of their customers. He also made
mention of assistance to institutions including
the Fourah Bay College for the rehabilitation
of the Chemistry department, the Kenema Polytechnic
for its library building project, and financial
assistance to the Catholic Seminary, the Blind
School and the Sierra Leone Football Association.
The
President, Alhaji Dr, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, commended
the management of the Sierra Leone Commercial
Bank for its tremendous successes. Speaking
about the thinking of some people to privatize
the bank, President Kabbah said that there is
no need for privatization if the management
of the parastatal is making progress. He assured
the team of his complete confidence in the management.
This he said is evident in the payment of their
taxes and still making profits. The President,
however, appealed to the management to consider
allocating a proportion of the profits to the
people who have contributed in making the profits.
He suggested that part of the dividend could
be given to the customers by reducing interest
rates on current accounts, reducing bank charges
and increasing interest rates on savings accounts.
Giving
the vote of thanks, the Managing Director of
the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank Ltd., Alhaji
Dr. Abdulai Kakay, noted that the dividend for
2004 is the highest in the history of the bank.
-End-
