The Impact of Delinquent Loans on Financial Performance of Banks in Ghana

Abstract
Loan portfolio is the largest asset and the biggest source of income for banks; consequently, most banks advance huge portions of financial resources as loans to clients. Despite the stringent evaluation and monitoring strategies put in place by banks to ensure repayment of loans by borrowers, a considerable proportion of loans become delinquent. Empirical evidence on the incidence of non-payment of loans on financial performance of Banks in Ghana is very limited. Consequently, this study investigates into the impact of delinquent loans on financial performance (interest income and net profit) of banks in Ghana. Glaring in this study is a statistically significant impact of delinquent loans on interest income and net profit. At α = 0.05, delinquent loans significantly affect both interest income [F (1, 48) = 119.28, P < 0.05, partial η2 = 0.713] and net profit [F (1, 48) = 54.20, P < 0.05, partial η2= 0.530]. Considering the influence of delinquent loans on individual dependent variables, delinquent loans account for 70.7% of the variation in interest income (t= -10.921, P < 0.000) and 52.1% variation in net profit (t= –7.362, P < 0.000). As a result, a significant impact of delinquent loans on FP (interest income and net profit) of banks is established in this study. Apparently, it is recommended that banks embark on effective and regular monitoring of the loan from the time of disbursement till the final repayment as a means of reducing delinquent loans and its antecedent impact on interest income and net profit. Periodic relevant training programs could also be organized for loan officers particularly in the area of risk management and management of delinquent loans.