Bank profitability: Insights from the rural banking industry in Ghana

This paper analyzes the profitability of 112 rural banks (special unit banks created to promote rural financial intermediation in Ghana). The results generally show that bank size, funding risk, diversification, liquidity risk, and bank stability are significant predictors of rural bank profitability. Whereas an improvement in the funding risk of a rural bank in a particular period portends a drop in its profitability in the future, an improvement in the size, diversification, liquidity risk, and stability of a rural bank signifies an improvement in the future profitability of the bank.