Access Holdings Plc, Nigeria’s largest finance holding company, has reported a profit after tax of N612.4 billion, marking a 300% increase from the previous year.
This represents the largest profit ever recorded by the company, under the leadership of the late Herbert Wigwe.
According to the financial statements reviewed by Nairametrics, Access Holdings (also known as Access Corporation) reported Gross Earnings of N2.6 trillion, an 80% increase from the N1.4 trillion reported the year prior.
A significant portion of this revenue was attributed to fair value and foreign exchange gains of about N628.9 billion, compared to N335.5 billion reported a year earlier.
Recommended reading: Access Holdings to acquire National Bank of Kenya Limited
Key highlights (2023 vs 2022 FY)
- Gross Earnings N2.6 trillion vs N1.4 trillion, YoY 80%
- Net Interest Income N555.8 billion vs N145.7 billion, YoY 282.7%
- Operating Expenses N697.5 billion vs N502 billion, YoY 38.9%
- Profit after tax N612.4 billion vs N153 billion, YoY 300%
- Earnings Per share N1.723 vs N0.444, YoY 300%
- Dividends N1.8/share (bringing total to N2.10)
- Dividend yield based on current price 7.8%(adjusted 9.1%)
Access Corp share price closed at N23.1 (down 2%) on Wednesday March 26th, 2024. The share price is down 0.22% YTD and has a year high of N30 per share.
Recommended reading: Access Bank to acquire 80% stake in Finance Trust Bank
Insights: The substantial growth in pre-tax profit can be attributed to the significant growth in gross earnings, driven by growth in interest income and non-interest income.
- The group attributes the growth in interest income to a higher yield environment supported by a 62% YoY expansion in earning assets.
- However, the bank’s interest expense continued to be elevated due to interest paid on deposits, probably due to the surge in interest rates
- It is worth mentioning that, in contrast to some banks where foreign exchange gains significantly bolstered gross earnings, Access Holdings saw a relatively modest foreign exchange gain of N17.254 billion in 2023, even marking a decrease of 49.9% compared to the figure for 2022.
