Access Bank profits surge 35 percent to N65.9 billion

17 Mar 2016
Chibuike Oguh

Summary

Access Bank’s gross earnings rose 27 percent to N337.4 billion in 2015, from N245.38 billion in 2014.

Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director/CEO, Access Bank

Access Bank, one of Nigeria’s largest banks, has released its audited financial statements for the full year ended December 31, 2015. According to the report, which was released on Thursday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the bank declared that its profit for the year rose 35 percent year-on-year to N65.9 billion, compared to N42.98 billion reported in 2014.  

Access Bank’s gross earnings rose 27 percent to N337.4 billion in 2015, from N245.38 billion in 2014. The bank reported N75.04 billion as profit before tax for the period, compared to N52.02 billion reported in the previous year.

Access Bank also said its non-performing loans stood at N24.42 billion (or 1.7 percent of total loans) compared with N25.26 billion (or 2.21 percent of total loans). The bank said its loan provisions rose 18 percent to N14.22 billion in 2015, compared to N11.65 billion in 2014.

Last month the ratings agency, Fitch, revised the stable outlook on three large Nigerian banks – First Bank Holdings, GT Bank, and UBA – because of their significant exposures to the oil gas sector. However, Fitch retained its stable outlook for Access Bank, in addition to six other banks, because of their “intrinsic creditworthiness” and limited reliance on foreign borrowing.

The bank's total assets increased from N2.1 trillion in 2014 to N2.6 trillion in 2015.

At the end trading at the NSE on Thursday, Access Bank’s shares fell 8.2 percent to close at N4.14.


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