Access Holdings’ nine-month profit climbs 83% to N458 billion

Return on equity stood at 14.6 per cent, compared to 11.9 per cent a year ago.

Access Holdings’ net profit for the first three quarters of the year rose approximately 83 per cent, its unaudited accounts showed, as West Africa’s biggest lender saw a huge boost to its interest income.

Other key revenue sources similarly recorded notable growth.

Gross earnings increased more than twofold to N3.4 trillion, with interest income contributing more than 70 per cent of that sum, putting the corporation on track to achieve the N5 trillion turnover target it has set itself for the year.

Much of the revenue of the financial services group did not turn into profit in the review period as expenditure continued to rise, hurting earnings.

Net profit margin, the portion of revenue that eventually translates into profit after tax, stood at 13.4 per cent, compared to 15.7 per cent.

Access Holdings, which is longing to take a place among the top five banks on the continent by 2027, is taking the long view by committing a vast slice of its resources to consolidating its share of key markets outside its base in Nigeria.

Return on equity stood at 14.6 per cent, compared to 11.9 per cent a year ago.

Interest expense gulped as much as 64.8 per cent of the N2.4 trillion interest the organisation generated during the period, leaving net interest income at N844.8 billion.

The cash that eventually went into the bank’s coffers after the impairment was accounted for is even more subdued at N699.9 billion.

Access Holdings’ provision for problem loans and other impaired financial assets soared by 134.5 per cent, signifying part of the headaches that sometimes come with elevated lending rates.

Lenders in Nigeria have been charging much for loans, enabled by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s decision to raise the reference lending rates by a cumulative 15.8 per cent since May 2022 to curb inflation.

While that has created a boom for lenders, it is pushing many businesses to the brink.

Fees and commissions for the review period grew almost twofold to N401.5 billion on the back of a surge in credit-related charges and e-banking income.

Pre-tax profit was up 89.6 per cent at N558.2 billion, while post-tax profit advanced to N457.7 billion from N250.4 billion.

Total comprehensive jumped 142 per cent to N1.1 trillion, driven by unrealised foreign currency translation difference.

The financial services behemoth, now valued at N41.1 trillion in assets, is giving thought to issuing dollar-denominated securities in two tranches to drive expansion and meet the new capital requirements for banks in Nigeria, Roosevelt Ogbonna, CEO of its commercial banking subsidiary told journalists on Monday in Lagos.