By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Nigeria’s tier one lender, Access Bank Plc said on Thursday is pretax profit for the first-half (H1) period ended June 30, 2015 grew 44.2 percent to N39.11 billion from N27.11 billion recorded a year ago.
Similarly, profit after tax (PAT) increased 39 percent to N31.29 billion from N22.6 billion posted in the same period of 2014.
Gross earnings rose from N117.93 billion in H1 2014 to N168.64 billion in the review period of 2015; indicating a 43 percent rise, the bank said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The Nigeria’s top tier lender said it’s offering its shareholders a 25 kobo per share interim dividend and closure of register date is September 3; while payment date has been scheduled for September 10, 2015.
Access Bank says growth in gross earnings was boosted by an 18 percent increase in interest income to N98.9 billion in the H1 period of 2015 from N83.6 billion recorded in the same period of 2014.
According to the tier one lender, there were also increases in non-interest income which rose 101 percent to N69.4 billion in 2015 from N34.6 billion in 2014.
Other financial indices include operating income of N17.6 billion which grew by 42 percent in H1 2015 compared with N83.1 billion in the corresponding period of 2014 and return on average equity (ROAE) of 21.6 percent in 2015, from 16.5 percent in the audited period of 2014.
A statement from the bank quoted Herbert Wigwe, group managing director (GMD) as saying, “The results reflect the bank’s concerted efforts to deliver on its growth objectives for 2015. The first half of the year was defined by significant macro-economic and policy headwinds with major impact on all aspects of our business. The group despite those challenges reported improved profits in the first half of the year with significant contributions from our securities trading business.
We are particularly pleased with the strong support from our shareholders as they exercised their Rights during the recently concluded Offer which raised N41.8 billion. The successful Capital Raise underscores the overwhelming support of our shareholders and their belief in Management’s ability to deliver long term value. With our capital position secure, our priority will be to focus on; driving migration of our customers to alternative platforms to boost profitability of our channels; implementing our customer service improvement initiatives; generating low-cost liability from continued engagement with customers; growing risk assets by deepening market share in target sectors; optimising and improving penetration of our customers’ value chain and driving operational efficiency through cost containment and procurement optimization measures,” Wigwe said.
Shares of Access Bank at the close of trading on Thursday at the Nigerian bourse climbed up 4.91 percent to close at N4.27 per share from N4.07 per share traded the previous session; gaining 20 kobo per share.
