Access Bank declares N42.2bn pre-tax profit

Access Bank Plc has announced a profit before tax of N44.2bn for the nine months ended September 3 2014. The bank the figure represented a 20 per cent increase on the N35.1bn it recorded during the same period in 2013.

The bank said in a statement on Thursday that the rise in profit was due to improved efficiency, rising market share and strong risk management practices.

The group's unaudited nine months' results, which it filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday, showed that its gross earnings rose by 17 per cent to N182bn from N154bn in the corresponding period of 2013.

The growth in gross earnings was driven by an increase in interest income from loans, it said.

Similarly, Access bank posted 21 per cent growth in operating income to N126bn from N104bn in 2013. Customer deposits increase by 11 per cent to N1.5tn from N1.3tn in full year 2013. The bank's asset quality ratios also improved as non-performing loan ratio was down 20 basis points to 2.5 per cent, from 2.7 per cent in December 2013.

'Further analysis of the result indicated that Access bank continued to improve on its operating efficiency and steady income growth resulting in cost to income ratio of 61 per cent in third quarter 2014 compared to 75 per cent,' the statement said.

It added that total assets grew by 14 per cent to N2.1tn from N1.8tn in full year 2013, while loans and advances of N1.1tn showed an increase of 33 per cent compared to N811bn in full year 2013.

The Group Managing Director, Access Bank, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, was quoted as saying, 'The Bank's resilient Q3 2014 results reflect consistent improvement in our balanced growth and target metrics. Our performance over the past three quarters demonstrates the effectiveness of our corporate strategy as the Bank continues to grow its market share in key segments whilst enhancing shareholder value.

'We have implemented a disciplined and conservative capital enhancement plan, designed to ensure we maintain our moderate risk appetite. This will ensure a stronger capitalised Bank, enabling us to remain competitive and take advantage of significant market opportunities in the execution of our long-term strategy,' he added.

Access Bank is a leading African bank, operating 366 branches and 1,043 ATMs in major centres across Nigeria and with subsidiaries in Sub-Saharan Africa and the United Kingdom. Listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1998, the Bank now has over 835,000 shareholders.