Access Bank Plc has settled a $500 million foreign-currency debt maturity from its own liquidity resources, underscoring the bank’s balance-sheet capacity to absorb a major external funding obligation without resorting to fresh borrowing.
The lender, a subsidiary of Access Holdings Plc, redeemed its five-year senior unsecured Eurobond on September 21, 2026, meeting the principal obligation entirely from its foreign-currency liquidity position.
Access Holdings said the redemption fully discharged Access Bank’s obligations under the instrument and would not adversely affect the bank’s operations or regulatory liquidity requirements.
Access Bank issued the Eurobond in September 2021 under its $1.5 billion Global Medium-Term Note Programme, raising $500 million from international investors.
The five-year senior unsecured notes carried a fixed coupon of 6.125 percent, payable semi-annually, and were listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
Investor demand was strong at issuance. The transaction attracted an order book exceeding $1.6 billion, more than three times the amount the bank sought to raise.
At the time, Access Bank described the order book as the largest recorded for a Nigerian bank Eurobond transaction.
The proceeds were raised to provide medium-term funding and support general banking activities. The bank’s 2021 annual report also indicated that the transaction helped extend the duration of its foreign-currency balance sheet and strengthen its liquidity position.
Five years later, the same funding instrument has reached maturity and been settled without the bank having to refinance the principal through another external debt transaction.
The significance of the redemption lies not only in the size of the payment but in how the bank funded it.
Access Holdings said the maturity had been incorporated into Access Bank’s liquidity management framework and was consistent with its asset-liability management strategy and the maturity profile anticipated when the bond was issued.
That means the $500 million obligation was not treated as an unexpected funding requirement but as a liability to be planned for over the life of the instrument.
The bank also maintained its interest obligations throughout the five-year period, with all semi-annual coupon payments made as they fell due.
The decision to meet the maturity from internal foreign-currency resources also means Access Bank did not need to immediately replace the $500 million through another Eurobond issue.
That distinction matters for a bank managing funding costs, liquidity buffers and foreign-currency assets and liabilities simultaneously.
Rather than adding another external liability to replace the maturing instrument, the bank has used existing liquidity to settle the obligation, according to Access Holdings.
Roosevelt Ogbonna, managing director and chief executive officer of Access Bank, said the redemption reflected the bank’s balance-sheet and liquidity management discipline.
“This redemption reflects the strength of Access Bank’s franchise, the discipline of our balance sheet management, and our continued commitment to meeting obligations to investors and stakeholders in a timely and transparent manner,” Ogbonna said.
He added that meeting the maturity from the bank’s own balance sheet demonstrated the strength of its funding position and the discipline applied to capital and liquidity management.
Funding base remains diversified
The maturity comes as Access Bank continues to maintain a diversified funding base to support operations and expansion across its markets.
For the bank, the repayment removes a major foreign-currency liability from its maturity schedule while preserving its ability to deploy its remaining liquidity resources across banking activities.
The transaction also closes a five-year funding cycle that began when Access Bank tapped international investors for medium-term dollar funding at a time when the bank was seeking to lengthen the tenor of its foreign-currency balance sheet.
The successful repayment leaves the focus on how the lender manages its balance sheet after the maturity, including the allocation of foreign-currency liquidity, future funding requirements and the financing of growth across its markets.
