Access Bank subsidiaries contribute 116% to group profit in 2018

Subsidiaries of Access Bank Plc contributed 116 percent of the overall group profit of the bank, Herbert Wigwe, CEO and managing director has revealed.

According to him, an effective implementation of the bank’s overall strategy, led to the Bank’s subsidiaries to Group profits growing by 116 percent to N27.9 billion.

The banking group’s recently released financials also showed impressive performance as profit after tax, came in 58 percent higher than the previous year.

The results released to The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Friday showed that Profit after Tax (PAT) settled at N95.0 billion from N60.1 billion in the corresponding period of 2017. Gross earnings rose 15 percent to N528.7 billion in FY 2018, compared to N459.1 billion in 2017, with interest and non-interest income contributing 72 percent and 26 percent respectively.

Wigwe in his comments on the overall performance of the bank said 2018 marked a significant year of progress for the Bank amidst an unfavourable macro climate.

“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.”

He said the bank will continue to invest in its people and technology in order to improve  operational efficiency and service touch points with earnings growth in 2019.

On the back drop of the results, directors of the Bank has proposed a dividend of 25 kobo per share bringing total dividend for the 2018 FY to 50 kobo.

Other financial parameters by the bank shows Profit before Tax (PBT) for the period was N103.2 billion, representing 32 percent growth from N78.2 billion in 2017 while Return on Average Equity (ROAE) stood at 19.0 percent with a Return on Asset of 2.1 percent in FY 2018.

The asset base of the Bank remained strong and diversified with growth of 21 percent year-to-date (YTD) in total assets of N4.95 trillion in December 2018 from N4.10 trillion in December 2017.

Loans and Advances totaled N2.14 trillion as at December 2018 (December 2017: N2.06 trillion). Customer deposits increased by 14 percent to N2.57 trillion in December 2018, from N2.25 trillion in December 2017.

The Bank noted that it’s Capital Adequacy (CAR) remained adequate at 20.8 percent, taking into consideration the regulatory transitional arrangement of IFRS 9 implementation.

On a full impact basis, CAR stood at 19.9 percent while liquidity ratio climbed higher at 50.9 percent as against December 2017, 47.2 percent, remaining well above regulatory requirements.

Wigwe said that the bank’s pursuit of a vision to be one of the leading Banks in Nigeria, led to the accelerated strides taken in the last quarter of the year towards achieving its 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” he stated.