Access Holdings Post N15tn Total Assets, Gross Earnings Hit N1.4tn

Kayode Tokede

Access Holdings Plc yesterday announced N15 trillion in total assets for the full year ended December 31, 2022, to outshine its peers in the league of tier-one banks.
According to the results presented on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), the Pan-African bank reported N15 trillion in total assets, representing an increase of 28 per cent from N11.73 trillion reported in the corresponding period of 2021.

According to its audited results released on the Exchange, the Group’s gross earnings rose by 43 per cent to hit N1.388 trillion, as against the N971.9 billion it recorded the previous year, while interest income was up by 19 per cent to N359.4 billion from N301.5 billion recorded in 2021.
Additionally, deposits from its customers increased to N9.25 trillion, higher than N6.955 trillion in 2021, while loans and advances to customers also went up to N5.557 trillion, from N4.446 trillion as at full year, 2021.

The management, however, proposed a final dividend of N46.21 billion, representing N1.30 per share to its shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2022.
However, the Group’s profit before tax declined by 5.1 per cent from N176.8 billion in 2021 to N167.7 billion in 2022.
Access Holdings in the statement stated that its financial results showed strong growth across revenue lines, despite the strong macroeconomic headwinds locally and internationally.

“We registered a record revenue of N1.4 trillion a 43 per cent year-on-year growth as we begin to see the dividends of organic and inorganic activities across the ecosystem,” it added.
The Holding company explained that the decline in the profit before tax was as a result of the huge write downs from the Ghana sovereign debt crisis, saying, “overall, interest income grew 37 per cent to N827 billion, driven by a strong loan book growth despite the high inflationary environment.”
Net loans and advances to customers grew by 25 per cent across the Banking group, with a deliberate focus on credit disbursement to critical segments and growth sectors of the economy.

“We also saw good growth across the subsidiaries, in particular the UK, up 36 per cent to N1.1 trillion in 2022,” it stated.
“Access Holdings ended the year with over 58 million customers across the extensive network of subsidiaries and business verticals. The company’s asset base grew to N15 trillion and customer deposits to N9.25 trillion, with CASA mix up by five per cent to 63 per cent as a result of leveraging innovation, digital technology and financial inclusion to mobilise sustainable low-cost deposits.”

It added that, in the second half of 2022, Access Holdings completed the divestment from Pensions Custodian business and acquired significant shareholding in First Guarantee Pensions Limited and Sigma Pensions Limited to form Access Pensions Limited.
“This combination, it stressed, resulted in the creation of the fourth largest PFA in Nigeria, with Asset under Management of N0.9 trillion, putting the company clearly in the league of strategic players in the pensions industry.

“Our payment business went live with the switching business in Q3, 2022, while the other areas of the business will become fully operational from Q2, 2023. The overall business outlook for 2023 remains strong as we begin our new 5-year strategic journey, which aims to make us one of the top five financial services organization in Africa by 2027,” Holdings added in a statement obtained by THISDAY.