PBC records 20.6 per cent net profit

Story by Raphael Apetorgbor

The Produce Buying Company (PBC) as at the end of 2012 recorded a net profit of 20.6 per cent after tax returns on capital employment, Dr John Frank Abu Chairman of the company has stated.

He said it balance sheet showed a marginal growth in shareholders equity by 3.25 per cent from GH 47.373 million to GH 48.917 million whiles it total assets grew by 5.4 per cent from GH 274 million to GH 289.272 million.

In the company 12^th Annual General Meeting Report read by Dr Frank Abu in Accra, he disclosed that this marginal growth was led mainly by a significant increase in trade and other receivables as well as increases in property, plant and equipment.

However he said the company’s total revenue decreased from GH1.301 billion to GH1.162 billion, a decrease of 10.7 per cent due mainly to decrease in cocoa purchases arising from poor national cocoa production as a result of unfavorable weather conditions.

In that light, he said the company’s total operational and administrative expenditure increased marginally by 2.6 per cent from GH 68.422 to GH70.237 due to the tighter control measures put up by management that ensured that expenditure was kept under reasonable limits.

Also PBC finance cost increased by 36.5 per cent from GH34.563 million to GH47.174 million due to the inadequacies of the traditional source of cocobod trading which became inadequate to meet PBC s needs and hence the company’s reliance on overdrafts and short term loans at very high cost.

According to Dr Frank Abu the company’s performance during the tax resulted in a net profit after tax of GH10.073 million, a decrease of 63.6 per cent of the previous year’s figure of GH27, 655 million.

He noted with concern how it basic Earnings Per Share (EPs) reduced by 63.5 per cent from GH0.0576 in the previous year to GH 0.0210 indicting unimpressive shareholders earnings arising out of the reduced Total Comprehensive Income for a year. 

He announced that the company has completed the process of establishing a factory at Buipe to process sheanut into sheabutter for export.

In addition the Dr Frank Abu stated that tremendous effort have being put into place to strengthen and modernize the head office to an appreciable standard.

He further said the company committed about GH 136,200.00 as it social responsibility to support infrastructural project and humanitarian needs of the people.

ADVANCING THE BETTER GHANA AGENDA....Government to create 2,500 jobs for PWDs

Story by Raphael Apetorgbor

Government has announced plans to provide 2,500 permanent jobs to Persons with Disabilities (PWDS) under the basic school computerization project.

The jobs will be created through a partnership with the Ministry of Education where PWDs will be attached to schools to assist in technical challenges like repairs and teaching.

The transform partnership will also be supported by Ghana’s leading Information Communication Technology giant RLG which had agreed to offer employment to an additional 2,500 PWDs as part of government’s interventions to integrate PWDs into society and make them economically useful and independent.

This was contained in a speech read on behalf of the out-going Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Eric Opoku during a graduation ceremony of 2,100 PWDs from the northern sector.

He said government took a decision that no segment of the population should be left behind in this era of ICT, hence Cabinet gave approval for the rolling out of this initiative, the first of its kind, and specifically tailored at PWDs.

Mr Opoku therefore urged them to take good care of the tools by putting them into good use for their own benefits and others in their respective communities.

The Executive Secretary of the National Council on Persons with Disability (NCPD), Max Vardon reminded beneficiaries that the training programme was meant to promote and support them for the socio-economic transformation of their lives.

He emphasized that the journey to enhance their lives had started with their graduation where “each of them was expected to take ownership of the challenge of deploying the training and tools they had received for their own advantage and survival.

Mr Vardon said that could be realized in either manufacturing products, supporting school ICT departments or providing value-added business services to their communities.

The Chief Executive Officer of RLG, Mr Roland Agambire in an address read for him by Isaac Appiah, Head of Training, RLG Communications, said the six months training was intensive.

He said beneficiaries were taken through a lot of subject areas including hardware, software, entrepreneurship, repair and assembling of mobile phones and computers and expressed the hope that they would effectively apply the lessons learnt to make life meaningful to themselves, their families and communities.

Mr Agambire said the second phase of the project was on-going with the training of 10,000 PWDs nationwide and indicated the continuous desire of RLG to partner government to alleviate the plight of all socially-disadvantaged persons in the society.

Participants were from the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions who had successfully undergone six months Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training.

The RLG Institute of Technology began the first phase of the project to train 5000 PWDs nationwide with ICT knowledge and skills.

The southern sector beneficiaries, comprising 2,500 PWDs from the Greater Accra, Volta, Eastern, Western and Central regions, graduated in September 2012 in Accra.

Each beneficiary was given a certificate and a set of tools and kits comprising magnifying lens, a set of screw drivers, rework station and tweezers free of charge to facilitate the setting-up their own businesses for economic gains.

President John Mahama appoints Sports enthusiast to head KMA

Story by Raphael Apetorgbor

A sport enthusiast, Mr Kojo Bonsu has been nominated by President John Dramani Mahama as the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) for Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA).

A statement signed by Mr Akwasi Opong-Fosu, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, said on Thursday.

 

According to the statement the nomination is by virtue of section 243(1) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and section 20(1) of the Local Government Act 1993, Act 462.

Mr Bonsu served as a member of Board Directors of GOIL and also acted as the Managing Director.

Mr Bonsu, 50 is a sports executive, an event organizer and businessman with various business interests.

He is the owner and Chief Executive Officer of Ashtead Ghana Ltd - Engaged in printing of T-Shirts, sports ware and garments; Trendi Sports Ltd - Sale of Sports equipment Agoo Magazine -A Pan-African lifestyle magazine, Foxton Trading Ltd –A commodity trading company.

He had previously worked with Scholl U.K. Limited, London, Adidas International and is currently the Adidas International Manager and Corporate Representative for Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon.

STOP POLITICIZING POLICE RESHUFFLE-WANEP WARNS

Story by Raphael Apetorgbor

Following the recent changes within the Police Headquarters Management Advisory Board and the elevation of a number of service personnel to higher positions, Ghanaians have been urged to avoid politicizing the reshuffle exercise conducted by the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan.

Mr Emmanuel Bombande, Executive Director of West African Network for Peace building (WANEP) who gave the advice explained that politicizing this change could blemish the integrity and image of the police administration.

“It will be dangerous for any individual to read political meanings at the police services reshuffling.” he said, stressing that that the reshuffling within the police service “is a straight forward internal administrative matter within the police service and it comes along with the job.”

Speaking on a private radio station in Accra, he indicated that all police personnel who are professionals in the security sector were aware of these internal changes.

He stated that the changes are bound to happen anytime there is an appointment of a new IGP and added that government does not direct those changes but it is left to the hierarchy of the police service.

“The police service is separated as an independent professional institution even if the vice president is the head of the police council. The concern of the general public would be focused on the monitoring processes that will be done, the type of professionalism that the exercise is expected to produce and the type of impact it will show so that the general public would appreciate the changes that were made.”

Mr Bombande equally urged Ghanaians to expect improved service from the police with the latest re-shuffling.