Access Holding Company pays total dividend of N1.50 per share

Peter Okorie

Pushing against the tide of troubling economic condition of Nigeria, Access Bank showed resilience in its audited results for year ended December 31, 2022.

The Holding Company paid dividends N1.30 per share, representing 14.4 percent of the closing price of N9.00 a share on April 19, 2023. But the dividends came to a total of N1.50 per share.

Access Holdings Plc also posted gross earnings of N1.39 trillion for the 2022 financial year.

The company disclosed this in its Consolidated and Separate Financial Statement for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022 released on Thursday in Lagos.

The gross earnings represented an increase of 43 per cent when compared with N971.88 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.

The company attributed the growth in gross earnings to the dividends of organic and inorganic activities across the ecosystem.
However, its profit before tax of stood at N167.68 billion, representing a 5.04 per cent year-on-year decline against N176.58 billion realised in 2021.

The statement said that the company showed strong growth across revenue lines, despite the strong macroeconomic headwinds locally and internationally.

“We registered a record revenue of N1.4 trillion, a 43 per cent year-on year growth (FY’21:N971.9) as we begin to see the dividends of organic and inorganic activities across the ecosystem.

“Access Holdings Plc recorded a profit before tax of N167.7 billion, five per cent year-on year decline (FY’21: N176.6bn) following huge write downs from the Ghana sovereign debt crisis.
“Overall, Interest Income grew 37 per cent year-on-year to N827 billion, driven by a strong loan book growth despite the high inflationary environment.

“Net loans and advances to customers grew by 25 per cent across the banking group, with deliberate focus on credit disbursement to critical segments and growth sectors of the economy,

“We also saw a good growth across the subsidiaries, in particular the UK (up 36 per cent to N1.1 trillion in 2022),’’it said.
The statement also said that the company ended the year with over 58 million customers across the extensive network of subsidiaries and business verticals.

It added that the company assets base grew to N15.0 trillion and customer’s deposits to N9.25 trillion, with CASA mix up by five per cent, to 63 per cent as a result of leveraging innovation, digital technology and financial inclusion to mobilise sustainable low-cost deposits.

“In the second half of 2022, Access Holdings Plc completed the divestment from Pensions Custodian business and acquired significant shareholding in First Guarantee Pensions Ltd. and Sigma Pensions Ltd. to form Access Pensions Ltd.

“This combination resulted in the creation of the fourth largest PFA in Nigeria, with assets under management of N0.9trillion, putting us clearly in the league of strategic players in the Pensions industry,” it said.

The statement also said that the company’s payment business went live with the switching business in the third quarter of 2022, while the other areas of the business would become fully operational from the second quarter of 2023.

“The overall business outlook for 2023 remains strong as we begin our new five year strategic journey which aims to make us one of the top five financial services organisation in Africa by 2027,” it said.

According to Cordros Capital ltd Research,
While the revenue expansion in the period was impressive, ACCESSCORP’s exposure to the GoG’s debt pressured its profitability growth in 2022FY. Going into 2023E, we believe the group will deliver a positive financial performance, given the strong execution of its digitization and retail-led strategy in the Nigerian market, coupled with the leverage of its Holdco status to boosts earnings growth, it noted that the decline in the group’s earnings can be attributed to the higher impairment charges (+137.7% y/y) in the period, primarily driven by its exposure to the Government of Ghana’s (GoG) debt.

Access Holdings recently announced its completion of a US$300 million capital investment into its flagship subsidiary, Access Bank Plc, the proceeds of which will supplement the capital needs of African expansion strategy.