Shareholders of GCB Bank unanimously shot down the decision by board members to increase the annual salaries for all Directors of the Board from a total of GHS2. 5 million to GHS4.5 million.
The shareholders said they were not given enough notice and also the company did not have adequate funds for such increments.
This happened during the bank’s 23rd Annual General Meeting in Accra, which was also to ratify the appointment of new directors of the board and also to approve a 62 percent increase in their remuneration.
Chairman of GCB Bank board Jude Kofi Arthur explained the reason for such a proposal, saying the board has not had any increment in remuneration since 2013
“You can’t say this is outrageous because the board has been working with an old approved remuneration of GHS2.5 million annually since 2013,” he said.
However, the shareholders unanimously disagreed with the proposal and called for a further consultation which resulted in a hold-up of the meeting for some few minutes.
After the long hold up shareholders were given the opportunity to vote on the agenda after which the proposal was eventually shot down.
In an interview later, Mr Arthur outlined the next step for the Bank with regards to the package for the directors.
He said the board will meet again to think about the next step to take within the year. He is therefore optimistic that they will have a successful conclusion on the matter soon.
Meanwhile, the board approved a dividend payment of GHS0.38 per share representing a total payout of GHS100.7 million for shareholders.
The bank also recorded a profit before tax of GHS467 million for 2016, a 29 percent increase from 2015 profit and a profit after tax of GHS318 million in 2016, a 25 percent increase from the 2015 figure.
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