Access Holdings, a pan-African financial services company led by Nigerian multimillionaire banking tycoon Herbert Wigwe, reported profits in excess of $205 million in the first six months of its 2022 fiscal year, as it continues to leverage its broad-based pan-African operations to create value for its shareholders.
Its strong financial performance in the face of rising economic uncertainty and increasing operatinng costs prompted the group’s board of directors to declare its first-ever interim dividend of N0.2 ($0.000466) per share, which will be paid to shareholders on Oct. 12.
According to the group’s recently released interim financial results, Access Holdings’ profits for the first six months of 2022 rose by 2.2 percent to N88.74 billion ($207.2 million), up from N86.8 billion ($202.6 million) in the same period last year.
Earnings growth at the bank was hampered by an increase in fee and commission expenses, as well as a rise in interest expenses, which offset the increase in both interest and non-interest income during the period under review.
The increase in its banking-related expenses, which impacted its net interest income and net fee and commission income, was compounded by the rise in its operating expenses, as personnel and other operating expenses surpassed N58 billion ($135.4 million) and N175 billion ($408.5 million), respectively, from N43 billion ($100.4 million) and N126 billion ($294.2 million) in the prior year.
Access Holdings is Nigeria’s largest financial services group by assets and one of the most capitalized financial services institutions on the Nigerian Exchange. Shares in the tier-1 bank are now valued at N8.95 ($0.0209) per share, giving the group a market capitalization of N318 billion ($742.4 million).
The Wigwe-led financial services conglomerate operates in more than 10 African countries, including South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Gambia, and Mozambique. It also has operations in the United Kingdom, China, India, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates.
As a result of the group’s strong financial performance in the first half of 2022, total assets across its subsidiaries increased from N11.73 trillion ($27.4 billion) at the start of the year to N13.2 trillion ($30.8 million) as of June 30, 2022, while retained earnings increased from N397.2 billion ($927 million) to N401.5 billion ($937.4 million).
