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Access Holdings Plc, a pan-African financial services group led by Nigerian multimillionaire banking mogul Herbert Wigwe, reported a nine-percent increase in profit in the first quarter of 2022, as the Lagos-based financial services group delivered a resilient financial performance despite operating environment challenges.
Despite a double-digit increase in interest income, the increase in earnings at the end of the first quarter of 2022 can be attributed to a one-time N85.6 billion ($206.1 million) foreign exchange gain recorded during the period under review, which resulted in a single-digit increase in profit.
According to Access Holdings’ interim financial statement, profit rose by 9.2 percent in the first three months of 2022, from N52.55 billion ($126.53 million) the previous year to N57.4 billion ($138.2 million), despite a 27.2-percent increase in interest income from N125.97 billion ($303.31 million) to N160.32 billion ($386 million).
Aside from a significant increase in the group’s interest expense, which impacted net interest income significantly, an increase in operating expenses combined with a N44.63-billion ($107.46 million) loss from its financial instruments pressured earnings significantly.
As a result, the financial services group would have reported a loss if not for a net foreign exchange gain of N85.6 billion ($206.1 million).
As one of Nigeria’s leading financial services groups, Access Holdings ranks as one of the most capitalized financial services institutions on the Nigerian Exchange, with shares in the tier-1 bank valued at N9.9 ($0.0238) per share as of press time April 29, giving the group a market capitalization of N351.9 billion ($847.3 million).
Wigwe-led financial services provider operates as a multinational banking conglomerate in over ten African countries, including South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Gambia and Mozambique. It also has operations in the UK, China, India, Lebanon and the UAE.
Its resilient financial performance at the end of 2021 saw the holdings’ total assets increase from N11.73 trillion ($28.2 billion) to N12.08 trillion ($29.1 billion), retaining its position as Nigeria’s largest bank in terms of assets ahead of Ovia’s Zenith Bank, which has N10.32 trillion ($24.8 billion).
