Onome Amuge
Access Holdings Plc has reported a 14.7 per cent increase in profit after tax to N182.8 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025, up from N159.3 billion in the corresponding period of 2024. The unaudited consolidated financial statements filed with the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) revealed that this improvement was driven by strong growth in both interest and non-interest income during the review period.
Interest income, calculated using the effective interest rate, rose by 58.6 per cent to N964.6 billion in the first quarter of 2025, compared to N608.1 billion in the same period last year. However, interest expense also saw a significant rise of 71.3 per cent to N760.5 billion, up from N443.9 billion in the previous year.
Consequently, net interest income declined by 20.1 per cent to N220.2 billion from N275.7 billion. The net impairment charge on financial assets remained relatively stable at N21.8 billion, slightly lower than the N22.8 billion recorded in the prior year. As a result, net interest income after impairment fell to N198.4 billion from N252.9 billion.
The group’s non-interest income streams showed strong growth. Fee and commission income rose to N174.5 billion from N112.4bn, while fee and commission expenses increased to N28.3 billion from N25.5 billion, resulting in a net fee and commission income of N146.2 billion, up from N86.9 billion in the corresponding period.
Access Holdings also benefited from a fair value and foreign exchange gain of N214.4 billion in the first quarter of 2025, an increase from N119.2 billion in the previous year. However, other operating income decreased to N12.8 billion from N23 billion.
Operating expenses saw an uptick, with personnel expenses climbing to N105.6 billion from N79.8 billion and other operating expenses increasing to N213.8 billion from N176.6 billion.
Overall, the group’s profit before tax rose to N222.8 billion, up from N202.7 billion in the first quarter of 2024. After accounting for a tax expense of N40 billion, the group’s profit after tax stood at N182.8 billion.
Despite the profit growth, Access Holdings reported a total comprehensive loss of N39.6 billion in the first quarter of 2025, a stark contrast to the gain of N388.3 billion in the same period of 2024. This loss was largely attributed to an unrealised foreign currency translation difference of N142 billion and an N84.8 billion decline in the fair value of debt financial instruments measured at fair value through other comprehensive income, reflecting the impact of currency volatility.
Earnings per share for the period increased to 488 kobo, up from 435 kobo in the same period of 2024.
The group’s total assets expanded to N39.1 trillion as at March 31, 2025. Customer deposits reached N23 trillion, up from N22.5 trillion at the end of December 2024, while loans and advances to customers amounted to N11 trillion.Â
Meanwhile, total equity attributable to shareholders increased to N3.5 trillion, while total liabilities stood at N35.4 trillion.
