Access Bank Nigeria Plc, one of the largest lenders has continued to reap huge foreign exchange gains with yet another N52.836 billion to enhance the bank’s earnings.
The foreign exchange gains were on the back of the naira devaluation and inflationary pressure.
For the half year 2022, Access Holding’s profit after tax stood at N88.739 billion, from N86.819 billion posted in 2021, representing a marginal gain of 2.21%.
Interest income calculated using the effective interest rate rose by 22.51% to N342.530 billion, from N279.594 billion recorded in the half year of 2021.
The result is on the back of an inflationary year, where businesses and their consumers have had to deal with rising cost of goods and services.
Banks make money on their dollar denominated assets when the currency is devalued by the regulator. Checks by Nairametrics showed that though the bank’s foreign exchange gain dropped by 22.25% to N52.836 billion from N68.195 billion in 2021, the exceptional item was one of the major drivers of banks profit.
It is important to note that the improvement in the yield environment also propelled Access Banks’ revenue.
This is because a high interest rate regime that undermines companies’ earnings is a boom to banks as they make more money, by taking advantage of the difference between the interest banks pay to customers and the interest the bank can earn by investing.
Access Holdings posted gross earnings of N591.803 billion for its 2022 half-year results, representing a growth of 31.42% year-on-year.
In its unaudited half-year financials submitted to the Nigeria Exchange Limited, the bank also made significant improvements across key performance indicators.
Analysis of the results indicates that the bank’s profit before tax rose marginally by 0.42% to N97.791 billion from N97.379 billion reported in 2021.
Access Holdings closed its last trading day (Monday, September 19, 2022) at N8.30 per share on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX). Access began the year with a share price of N9.30 but has since lost 10.8% off that price valuation, ranking it 116th on the NGX in terms of year-to-date performance.
What you should know
During the period under review, the board of directors proposed interim dividend of 20 Kobo per ordinary share of 50 Kobo each on the 35,545,225,622 issued ordinary shares of 50k each payable to shareholders on the register of shareholding at the closure date. Withholding Tax will be deducted at the time of payment.
Other key financial highlights
- Net interest income after impairment charges declined by 6.25% to N160.639 billion in 2022 from N171.350 billion in 2021
- Fee and commission income grew by 10.42% to N81.100 billion in 2022 from N73.446 billion the previous year
- Fee and commission expense grew by 71.22% to N25.662 billion from N14.988 billion.
- Other operating income dropped to N10.029 billion in half year 2022 from N13.804 recorded in 2021
- Other income declined by 14.86% to N22.011 billion from N25.853 billion the previous year.
