Publicly-listed financial stocks have staged their strongest rally in years, returning 89.02 percent between beginning of the year and 50th week – mid-December, pushing the GSE Financial Stock Index (GSE-FSI) to 4,500.14 points.
This performance places financial equities well ahead of the broader market and points to a surge in investor appetite for banking and insurance counters amid improving macroeconomic conditions and falling interest rates.
The wider market has also advanced sharply with the GSE Composite Index (GSE-CI) standing at 8,634.75 points on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, translating into a year-to-date gain of 76.64 percent.
This return has surpassed even the most optimistic analyst forecasts, supported by stronger-than-expected earnings, better liquidity conditions and renewed interest in equities following years of pressure from the domestic debt exchange programme.
Market expectations, while optimistic, were not robust; but sentiment shifted as macroeconomic indicators strengthened.
In its H2 2025 outlook, investment firm Databank noted that “ongoing improvements in macroeconomic conditions will continue to underpin stock market performance” – describing the market environment as one where “bright spots are visible amid macroeconomic rebound”.
Databank revised its year-end forecast for the GSE-CI to 7,827.56 points, indicating an annual return of 60.12 percent (±500bps). At the time of its report, the index stood at 7,416.03 points with a year-to-date gain of 51.70 percent – and the firm anticipated further gains in second-half of the year, buoyed by a post-H1 earnings rally and continued macroeconomic tailwinds.
The financial sector has been a major beneficiary of these conditions, with Databank projecting that “the financial sector is expected to remain resilient in HY ’25 despite pressures from yield compression on short-term Treasury securities”.
It cited improving macroeconomic conditions, rising business confidence and expanding private-sector activity as supportive of credit growth, asset quality and profitability.
It added that banks have maintained “robust credit underwriting systems even as lending rates decline”, with Financial Soundness Indicators pointing to continued asset growth, improved solvency, profitability and liquidity.
The non-performing loans ratio has slowed as credit expansion outpaces the growth of impaired assets.
Interbank Market: Cedi selling at GH¢11.47 to $1
Insurance companies are also expected to benefit from rising household disposable incomes as disinflation strengthens real purchasing power.
This sharp rebound in the sector comes three years after announcement of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), which significantly impacted banks as they held roughly a third of government securities.
The restructuring process however prompted a reassessment of risk across the market, but also contributed to a shift in investor appetite away from fixed-income instruments and into equities.
The development has also been reinforced by a sustained decline in Treasury-bill yields.
At beginning of the year, the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day instruments stood at 28.47 percent, 28.98 percent and 30.26 percent respectively.
By mid-December 2025, they had fallen sharply to 11.08 percent, 12.55 percent and 12.7 percent – reducing returns on government paper and prompting asset reallocations into listed equities.
“This in many ways shows that investors are beginning to gravitate away from their preoccupation with government securities. Investors are beginning to realise that diversification is the ultimate risk management tool,” said Antonio Kisseih, new president of the Ghana Securities Industry Association (GSIA).
He spoke to Business & Financial Times on the sidelines of a ring-the-bell ceremony organised by Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) to commemorate the successful conclusion of CalBank’s GH¢900million rights issue and private placement.
Financial stocks YtD
Individual stock performances underline the rally’s breadth – with Access Bank, for instance, beginning the year at GH¢5.20 per share and gaining 209 percent to reach GH¢16.08. Ecobank Ghana has climbed 270 percent from GH¢6.50 to GH¢24.02. GCB has risen 206 percent from GH¢6.37 to GH¢19.51 while Societe Generale has advanced 199 percent from GH¢1.50 to GH¢4.49.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has gained 155 percent, moving from GH¢0.31 to GH¢0.79. SIC Insurance has surged 344 percent from GH¢0.27 to GH¢1.20. Enterprise Group has increased 74.2 percent from GH¢1.98 to GH¢3.45.
Republic Bank gained 89.4 percent to GH¢1.25, Trust Bank Gambia advanced 44.6 percent to GH¢1.20 and Standard Chartered Bank rose 26.7 percent to GH¢29.14.
ADB remained flat at GH¢5.06 while Standard Chartered’s preference shares held steady at GH¢0.90.
CalBank
CalBank’s performance has been partly shaped by a major capital-raising exercise. The bank recently completed a GH¢1.164billion renounceable rights issue that exceeded its original GH¢900million target by nearly 30 percent.
The three-week offer attracted 1,799 shareholders, while an accompanying private placement drew more than GH¢500million in additional commitments that could not be absorbed as the required capital had already been raised through the rights issue.
The bank said the capital will be used to restore regulatory buffers, support larger transactions, expand its branch network and upgrade technology platforms.
“This is a clear and undeniable endorsement of the trust investors continue to place in CalBank – our vision, our potential and the strategic role we occupy within Ghana’s financial ecosystem,” said Daniel Sackey, the bank’s board chairman.
Managing Director Carl Asem added: “CalBank is entering a new era, one defined by resilience, momentum and disciplined growth. Over the past two years we have quietly but deliberately restructured our balance sheet, rebuilding it to be stronger, more sustainable and fully aligned with our long-term aspirations”.
CalBank shares began the year at GH¢0.35 and have gained 28.6 percent to GH¢0.45, including 32.4 percent growth over the past four weeks as investors responded to the bank’s strengthened outlook.
Market momentum is expected to deepen with the anticipated listing of First Atlantic Bank, which will mark GSE’s first initial public offering in almost eight years.
“This is an indication of what to expect from the market, not just the financial sector,” added Abena Amoah, Managing Director-GSE.
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