Access Holdings reports N209.2bn profit for Q3, 2024

…Nine-month pre-tax profits up 89.59%

Access Holdings PLC has released its financial results for the third quarter of 2024, recording a pre-tax profit of N209.2 billion, a 65.01 percent increase from N126.8 billion in the same period last year.

For the nine-month period ending September 30, 2024, cumulative pre-tax profit reached N558.1 billion, reflecting an 89.59 percent rise compared to the previous year.

Net interest income also rose significantly in the third quarter, doubling to N331.4 billion from N165.7 billion a year earlier, marking a 100.01 percent increase.

Additionally, fair value and foreign exchange gains saw a modest increase of 15.43 percent year-over-year, while earnings per share grew by 50.63 percent to N4.79 for the quarter.

A cursory review of the results shows that core banking revenues, primarily from interest income and commissions, drove performance over the first nine months of the year.

Of the N2.39 trillion in interest income reported for this period, loans and advances to customers accounted for N1.2 trillion, while investment securities contributed N838.1 billion.

The bank also faced an interest expense totalling N1.5 trillion, with N707.9 billion attributed to deposits from financial institutions and N646.6 billion to customer deposits.

Access Holdings reported N9.7 trillion in deposits from financial institutions and a substantial N22.8 trillion in deposits from customers.

Commission and fee income added N401.5 billion over the nine months. This included N151 billion from credit-related fees and commissions, while income from its channel and e-business services contributed N121.1 billion.

By geographic segment, Nigeria led with a contribution of N2.47 trillion to gross earnings, followed by N752.9 billion from the rest of Africa and N38.8 billion from Europe.

Despite Europe’s lower earnings, its pre-tax profits of N185.29 billion exceeded those from Africa (N143.7 billion), with Nigeria leading at N377.3 billion.

As of September 30, 2024, the group’s total assets surged to N41 trillion, driven by robust growth in cash, customer loans, and investment securities.

Cash holdings and bank balances rose significantly from N2.0 trillion to N4.2 trillion.

Customer loans saw considerable growth, with overdrafts forming a large part: N772.9 billion from individual customers and N5.1 trillion from corporate entities.

Treasury bills constituted a significant portion of investment securities, standing at N2.1 trillion at fair value, while total debt securities, including Treasury bills, federal government bonds, and euro bonds at amortized cost, reached N6.8 trillion.

Total liabilities also climbed to N3.7 trillion, largely due to an increase in deposits from customers and financial institutions.

Deposits from financial institutions included substantial trade obligations to foreign banks, while customer deposits were made up of N9.0 trillion in term deposits and N9.3 trillion in demand deposits.