Access Bank Plc has released its audited financial statement for the full year ended December 31, 2018. The results released to the investment public at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) shows Access Bank Plc grew its Profit After Tax (PAT) by 58.07percent to N95billion as against N60.1 billion recorded in 2017.
The bank’s Gross Earnings rose 15percent to N528.7 billion in FY 2018, compared to N459.1 billion in 2017, with interest and non-interest income contributing 72percent and 26percent respectively.
Profit before Tax (PBT) for the period was N103.2 billion, showing 32percent growth from N78.2 billion in 2017 while Return on Average Equity (ROAE) stood at 19percent with a Return on Asset of 2.1percent in FY 2018. The Bank has proposed a final dividend of 20 kobo per share bringing the total dividend for the financial year ended December 31, 2018 to 50 kobo.
The asset base of the Access Bank remained strong and diversified with growth of 21percent year-to-date (YtD) in total assets to N4.95 trillion in December 2018 from N4.10 trillion in December 2017.
Loans and Advances totaled N2.14 trillion as at December 2018 (December 2017: N2.06 trillion). Customer deposits increased by 14percent to N2.57trillion in December 2018, from N2.25trillion recorded in December 2017.
Capital Adequacy (CAR) remained adequate at 20.8percent, taking into consideration the regulatory transitional arrangement of IFRS 9 implementation. On a full impact basis, CAR stood at 19.9percent. Similarly, liquidity ratios of 50.9percent against December 2017 level of 47.2percent remained well above regulatory requirements.
Commenting on the bank’s performance during the period, Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director/CEO Access Bank Plc said, “2018 marked a significant year of progress for the Bank amidst an unfavourable macro climate. We made solid progress throughout 2018 in line with our 2018-2022 five-year strategy, and we remain committed to the achievement of our strategic imperatives going forward; as we continue to invest in our people and technology in order to improve operational efficiency and service touch points with earnings growth in 2019.”
According to him, the contribution of the bank’s subsidiaries to Group profits grew 116percent to N27.9 billion, underlined by the effective implementation of overall strategy.
“In pursuit of our vision to be one of the leading Banks in Nigeria, we took accelerated strides in the last quarter of the year towards achieving our overall retail strategy.
“The merger with Diamond Bank will enable us to fully entrench ourselves in the retail market with a view to lowering our funding cost. This transaction is anticipated to be completed by April 2019, resulting in the creation of an enlarged, efficient and digitally led tier 1 retail banking franchise” he stated.
