Access Holdings Plc, recently published its unaudited financials for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 with highlights such as its being the first to report interest income of over N1.0tr, while net profit improved year-on-year by 138.2%. The balance sheet also recorded significant growth over the level when compared with the closing figures at the end of December 2022. While total assets, for instance appreciated by 42.72%, customer loans and advances rose by 31.4%; and total liabilities, 43.57%; as customer deposits rose by 37.78% in the period under review.
According to the the result, total revenue for the period rose to N1.593tr, up from N906.93bn; with corporate and investment banking contributing N641.215bn, up from N350.962bn; ahead of commercial banking, N416.008bn, compared to the previous N250.962bn; retail banking (South), N355.032bn; and north, N171.2bn, from a total of N69.507bn, among others.
A further breakdown of the total revenue by geographical segments showed that Nigeria contributed a significant N1.248tr from the previous N747.209bn; followed by N213.799bn from the rest of Africa, up from N141.81bn and N130.994bn from Europe, from N46.428bn.
Interest income stood at N1.048tr, with interest income calculated using effective interest rate of N953.374bn, up from N497.23bn; driven by the N458.409bn from customer loans advances, which rose from N352.007bn. Interest income on financial assets of N95.089bn, up from N74.508bn. Interest expense rose to N685.508bn from N291.45bn, lifted by the N338.166bn paid on customer deposits, up from N175.833bn, resulting in net interest income of N389.955bn, an improvement over the previous N280.288bn. Net impairment charge on financial assets rose from N52.953bn to N61.825bn, the biggest being the N50.027bn allowance made for impairment on customer loans and advances; leaving interest income after impairment charges of N328.13bn, up from N227.335bn in the preceding nine months.
Fee and commission income rose to N208.182bn from N133.494bn, driven by credit related fees and commission which recorded over 100% growth from N41.724bn to N83.634bn; while commission on foreign currency denominated transactions channels and other e-business income jumped from N49.399bn to N70.35bn; followed by account maintenance charge and handling commission which contributed N21.848bn from N18.705bn, among others. Fee and commission expense increased to N59.628bn from N38.311bn, with e-banking accounting for N50.564bn from N32.443bn; resulting in net fee and commission income of N148.554bn, compared to the previous N95.183bn.
Fair value and foreign exchange gain stood at N314.601bn from N184.126bn; other operating income improved to N22.109bn from N17.219bn, helped by the N6.937bn bad debt recovered, which was marginally higher than the previous N6.849bn; and N4.338bn from dividends on equity securities, up from N2.95bn; personnel expenses rose from N89.84bn to N117.625bn; depreciation rose to N30.535bn from N22.466bn; amortisation and impairment increased to N12.631bn from N10.277bn. Other operating expenses summed up to N358.57bn from N254.341bn the lion’s share of which was the N68.805bn accrued to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria from the previous N52.734bn; and IT and e-business expenses which rose to N52.69bn from N34.523bn. These resulting in profit before tax of N294.416bn, up from N147.056bn; with Nigeria contributing N179.046bn, up from N93.947bn; followed by N62.063bn from Europe, up from N22.006bn; and N53.055bn from the rest of Africa, compared to the previous N32.73bn.
Income tax for the period rose to N43.972bn from N10.289bn; with net profit rising to N250.444bn from N136.914bn, which translated to earnings per share of N6.92, from N3.85 each.
Total assets for the period jumped to N21.405tr from N14.998tr at the end of December 2022, boosted by customer loans and advances of N6.702tr, up from N5.1tr. Total liabilities stood at N19.765tr from N13.767tr; the lion’s share of which was the N12.746tr in customer deposits, up from N9.251tr.