Republic Bank Ghana posted a 37 percent profit jump and declared a GH¢0.50 dividend; NPLs are still at 14 percent

GH¢287.94 million. That is Republic Bank Ghana's 2025 net profit, announced at the bank's 35th AGM, up 36.7 percent from GH¢210.68 million in 2024. Profit before tax came in at GH¢440.29 million. The board declared a dividend of GH¢0.50 per share.

Managing Director Dr Benjamin Dzoboku credited the performance to the bank's five-year strategic plan, with a focus on the SME sector. Board Chairman Jonathan Prince Cann presided. Interest income reached GH¢1.28 billion. Non-interest income grew 34.57 percent. Total assets rose to GH¢12.33 billion, an increase of GH¢2.74 billion year on year.

Where Republic Bank sits

Republic Bank's GH¢440.29 million pre-tax profit places it mid-tier against Ghana's largest banks. The top tier is GCB at GH¢3.16 billion PBT, Ecobank Ghana at GH¢2.98 billion, Absa at GH¢2.74 billion, and Stanbic at GH¢2.61 billion. CalBank posted GH¢102 million in Q1 2026 alone.

Aggregate sector pre-tax profit for 2025 reached GH¢21.87 billion across Ghana's universal banks. Net interest income totalled GH¢28.65 billion. The top five banks control approximately 46 percent of sector deposits.

Republic Bank is not the biggest. It is one of the fastest-growing. The 36.7 percent profit jump ranks among the sharper year-on-year gains in the sector.

The NPL number

The non-performing loan ratio fell to 14.15 percent from 15.64 percent. Improving — but elevated. For context, Stanbic Bank Ghana operates at a cost-to-income ratio of 40.41 percent and Absa at 37.47 percent. Republic has not disclosed its cost-to-income ratio publicly.

A 14 percent NPL ratio means roughly one in seven cedis Republic has lent out is not being repaid on schedule. Loans and advances grew 13.22 percent to GH¢3.45 billion, so the absolute volume of non-performing exposure is also rising.

The GSE context

The GSE Financial Stocks Index is up 83 percent year to date. Republic Bank shares have traded around GH¢4.69 to GH¢4.72 recently, and Republic was among the GSE's top gainers in the March rally. The GSE Composite Index crossed 15,000 earlier this year and market capitalisation has surpassed GH¢300 billion.

The story the banking sector numbers tell and the story the GSS food security data tell are not the same story. The sector booked GH¢21.87 billion in profit. One in five Ghanaian households is spending more than 75 percent of income on food. Both are 2025 data. Both are correct. Which one your readership is in determines which number is the headline.