By InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE-Nigeria’s tier one lender, Access Bank Plc on Wednesday said it was on a sustainable growth path, according to Mosun Bello-Olusoga, chairman of the bank at its 28th Annual General Meeting (AGM).
The lender also approved the payment of a final dividend of 40 kobo per share in its 2016 audited year end totaling 65 kobo per share; Access Bank had earlier paid an interim dividend of 25 kobo compared to 55 kobo per share dividend paid in the 2015 audited year end.
The proposed final dividend 40 kobo per share represents a dividend yield of c.6 percent based as at March 3, 2017 close price.
“The Bank has always maintained a balanced dividend payout ratio, based on residual dividend policy, this policy is hinged on the sustainability of dividend pay-outs and capital planning,” Bello-Olusoga said in here statement.
According to her, the Bank’s prudent risk management kept it in good stead as the lender maintained non-performing loans of 2.1 percent. She expressed her happiness on the capital adequacy ratio and liquidity ratio of Access Bank which achieved 21 percent and 43.6 percent respectively.
The Access Bank chairman said in the third quarter, the bank successfully raised $300 million senior unsecured notes, thus making it the first Nigerian bank to raise dollar-denominated debt in 2016. “This underscored the confidence of investors in the bank and signalled the return of investor confidence in the otherwise bearish market,” she added.
According to Herbert Wigwe, GMD/CEO of Access Bank, despite the challenging economy, 2016 was a year of progress for lender and many of the strategic choices it made over the years were validated when tested by the economic recession. “These critical decisions included our business mix, our risk management culture, and our capital and liquidity strategies,” Wigwe affirmed.
On the 65 kobo per share total dividend payment for 2016 financial year, he told shareholders that the bank was pursuing a residual dividend policy to ensure its sustainability.
Wigwe thanked the shareholders for their support in the operations of the Access Bank and informed them of the plan to roll out the next five year strategic growth trajectory for the bank, to cover the period 2018-2023.
At the AGM, Timothy Adesiyan and Sunny Nwosu, shareholder group leaders commended the lender on its performance, despite the challenging economic indicators.
Key highlights of the 2016 full year report ended December 31, 2016 shows that pretax profit of the lender appreciated 20 percent to N90.3 billion from N75.4 billion recorded in the 2015 end.
Also, Access Bank reported post-tax profit in the review period climbed up 9.23 percent to N90.3 billion from N75.0 billion posted a year ago.
Gross earnings of the lender increased from N337.4 billion in 2015 end to N381.3 billion in the review period of 2016; indicating a rise in gross earnings of 13.05 percent.
