By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Access Bank raised Profit After Tax (PAT) 58 per cent to N95.0 billion in the full year (FY) ended December 31, 2018, against N60.1 billion in the corresponding period of 2017, according to audited results released on March 15.
Gross Earnings rose15 per cent to ₦528.7 billion in FY 2018, compared to ₦459.1 billion in 2017. Interest income contributed 72 per cent, and non-interest income 26 per cent in the results sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
Profit before Tax (PBT) shot ₦103.2 billion, or 32 per cent from ₦78.2 billion in 2017. Return on Average Equity (ROAE) was 19 per cent, Return on Asset of 2.1 per cent.
Access Bank has proposed a final dividend of 25 kobo per share bringing total dividend for the year to 50 kobo per share.
Asset base remained solid and diversified with growth of 21 per cent YTD in total assets to ₦4.95 trillion in December 2018 from ₦4.10 trillion in December 2017.
- Loans and Advances totaled ₦2.14 trillion as of December 2018 (FY 2017: ₦2.06 trillion).
- Customer deposits jumped 14 per cent to ₦2.57 trillion (FY 2017: ₦2.25 trillion).
- Capital Adequacy (CAR) was 20.8 per cent, which is adequate considering the regulatory transitional arrangement of IFRS 9 implementation.
- On a full impact basis, CAR stood at 19.9 per cent.
- Liquidity ratio of 50.9 per cent (FY 2017: 47.2 per cent) was well above regulatory requirements.
2018 “marked a significant year of progress for the bank amidst an unfavourable macro climate,” said Group Managing Director/CEO, Herbert Wigwe.
“We made solid progress throughout 2018 in line with our 2018-2022 five-year strategy, and we remain committed to the achievement of our strategic imperatives going forward; as we continue to invest in our people and technology in order to improve operational efficiency and service touch points with earnings growth in 2019.”
Contribution of the bank’s subsidiaries to Group profits grew 116 per cent to ₦27.9 billion, underlined by the effective implementation of overall strategy.
“In pursuit of our vision to be one of the leading banks in Nigeria, we took accelerated strides in the last quarter of the year towards achieving our overall retail strategy.
“The merger with Diamond Bank will enable us to fully entrench ourselves in the retail market with a view to lowering our funding cost.
“This transaction is anticipated to be completed by April 2019, resulting in the creation of an enlarged, efficient and digitally led tier 1 retail banking franchise,” Wigwe added.
Background
Access Bank operates through branches and service outlets in major centres in Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa, the United Kingdom (extension to United Arab Emirates (Dubai), with representative offices in China, Lebanon, and India.
The Group provides a wide range of banking and other financial services to over 10 million customers from 402 branches and service centres.
The bank serves its various markets through four business segments: Personal, Business, Commercial and Corporate & Investment Banking.
It has over 830,000 shareholders, including Nigerian and international institutional investors.
