By Mariatu Esther Tamba
FREETOWN, Oct. 12 (232News) – Last Friday 8th October, the board of Directors, Skye Bank Sierra Leone Ltd brought shareholders to deliver the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020 at its Annual General Meeting held at the head office Siaka Stevens Street.
Addressing the meeting, the Chairman of the bank Abdul Rahman Turay said that 2020 was very challenging for the banking industry. This was due to the twin impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic and decline of productivity, particularly in the extractive industry. He said the implication of COVID-19 caused a decline in economic growth, high cost of business operations and deteriorating forex supply.
He went on to say that none of their staff was infected with COVID during the year and thanked the government of Sierra Leone for their prompt measures to combat the pandemic.
Chairman Turay also reported that the audited year also witnessed the launch of the bank’s ambitious growth and transformation plan, designed to elevate it’s ranking to the industry first-tier banks in five years. The bank has also commenced in earnest it’s digital transformation project with the approval of the upgrade of the core banking application version 12.0 of oracle Flexcube.
He said the board also approved the introduction of the following digital banking products: Mastercard, debit card, internet banking service and Skye pay encrypted SMS banking service.
Highlighting the company’s performance, Mr. Turay said the profit before tax was Le15.82bn, a marginal drop from Le16.49bn in 2019, representing approximately a 4% drop in profit in 2020. The profit after tax free to Le11.56bn representing a 4% growth in 2020. The bank’s total assets increased to Le279.40bn, up from Le144.06bn, achieving a 94% growth.
Presenting the audited financial statements of Skye Bank (SL) Limited, Albert Randle of MOORE SL said the accompanying financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the bank and its results for the year under review; financial position of the bank as at 31 December, 2020, and also its financial performance and it’s cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and the requirements of the companies Act 2009 of the Laws of Sierra Leone, the Banking Act 2019 of the Laws of Sierra Leone and the Banking Regulations of Sierra Leone. The bank transactions are within the powers of the bank.
He said they believe that the audited evidence they have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for their opinion.
Handle reported that the bank did not comply with the requirement of the central bank; as at 31st December, 2020, the bank’s non-performing loans to total loans ratio of 13% exceeds the tolerable ratio of 10% by 3% and the bank did not meet the minimum paid-up capital requirement of Commercial Banks of Le65billion as stipulated by the Bank of Sierra Leone.
For the financial year ended 31st December, 2020 the total asset is Le279,409,369 and total liabilities Le199,085,290. The profit for the year is Le11,996,646. According to the report from 2019 to 2020 there is a break even.
The Managing Director Segun Obasun requested the approval to issue and allot share capital of Le32.55bn, this was approved by the AGM.
