Access Holdings saw significant growth driven by fair value and foreign exchange gains, which increased by around 50% to N192 billion.
Access Holdings experienced a net profit increase of over 50% in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year. Additionally, its half-year revenue surpassed the N900 billion milestone for the first time ever.
Access Holdings' gross earnings for the period soared by 58.9%, reaching N940 billion. This puts the financial services group on track to surpass the N1.4 trillion reported for the full year of 2022.
Access Holdings, the largest bank in Nigeria in terms of assets, drove its growth through fair value and foreign exchange gains, which increased by approximately 50% to N192 billion.
After the Nigerian foreign exchange system underwent a significant overhaul in the latter part of the second quarter, the value of the naira against the dollar experienced a notable decline. However, this presented an opportunity for Access Holdings to convert its financial assets denominated in foreign currency to the naira, resulting in substantial gains for the lender.
Despite a significant surge of up to 63%, the improvement in net interest income for Access Holdings was modest at 13.5%. This was mainly due to the cash incentives provided to savers, which offset most of the interest generated during the period.
The expense alone consumed a significant amount of N382.6 billion from the total revenue. Taxable profit increased to N167.6 billion from N97.8 billion, and the profit for the period rose by 52.4% to N135.4 billion. Interestingly, Access Holdings' post-tax profit trailed behind its peers, including UBA, Zenith, GTCO, and FBN Holdings, indicating the current underutilization of its assets' potential to boost earnings.
Access Holdings experienced significant growth in its total assets, which increased from N15 trillion at the end of last year to N20.8 trillion in June. This growth was driven by a banking acquisition in Angola and several upcoming deals with Standard Chartered Bank in Cameroon, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Angola. Additionally, Access Holdings declared an interim dividend of N0.30 per share, amounting to a payout of N10.7 billion, compared to N0.20 per share announced the previous year.
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