Nigeria’s biggest banking institution Access Holdings on Friday posted N743 billion in net profit for last year, its peak level ever.
Revenue jumped to a record, as a much stronger fair value and FX gain boosted performance, 16 per cent stronger than the earnings for 2024.
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The upbeat results make the banking group an outlier among Nigeria’s largest lenders, often referred to as FUGAZ, a majority of which reported profit decline last year amid galloping costs and stunted growth in interest income.
Access Bank Nigeria and The Access Bank UK were the chief contributors to bottom line across all the subsidiaries, jointly accounting for 89.2 per cent.
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The group’s South African and Kenyan units were the only divisions that posted net losses during the period at N21.7 billion and N12.2 billion in that order, highlighting sky-high operating costs in those markets.
Gross earnings ascended 13.3 per cent to N5.5 trillion, helped in part by a consolidation of a crop of acquisitions across Africa by Access Holdings, which operates in over 20 countries across 3 continents, during the year.
The banking group, whose operations span commercial banking, payments, consumer finance, pensions and insurance brokerage, snapped up a 74.9 per cent interest in Standard Chartered Bank’s Gambian subsidiary for N9.5 billion ($6.1 million) in the year under review.
It also acquired the bank’s consumer, private and business banking unit in Tanzania for N14 billion ($9.1 million) and a majority stake in AfrAsia Bank Limited, Mauritius, through Access Bank UK for N611.1 billion ($397.6 million).
Net interest income, the difference between how much a financial institution earns from interest-bearing assets and what is paid to depositors and lenders in interest expenses, rose 7 per cent to N1.4 trillion.
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The group booked N523.6 billion impairment charge, 113.4 per cent higher than a year ago, to cover expected losses on problem loans and financial assets. Net fee and commission income climbed to N585.1 billion from N415.2 billion.
Fair value and FX gain more than doubled to N1 trillion, driven by a sharp surge in net realised and unrealised FX gain on unhedged items.
Pre-tax profit advanced to N1 trillion from N867 billion, while profit after tax stood at N743 billion, compared to N642.2 billion one year prior.
The group is now worth N51.6 trillion in total assets, up from N41.5 trillion.
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