Access Holdings Plc (NGX: ACCESSCORP), has reported profit before tax of ₦414.1 billion for the half-year ended 30 June 2026, driven by a 70% fall in impairment charges and a 51% rise in net fee and commission income.
According to the results on Nigerian Exchange the group, however, declared no interim dividend.
Key Financial Highlights
1. Gross earnings rose 4.6% to ₦2.61 trillion, from ₦2.50 trillion in H1 2025.
2. Interest income rose 5.1% to ₦2.15 trillion.
3. Net interest income rose 1.5% to ₦999.6 billion.
4. Impairment charge fell 70.0% to ₦69.0 billion, from ₦230.1 billion.
5. Net fee and commission income rose 51.1% to ₦359.1 billion.
6. Operating expenses rose 12.1% to ₦906.7 billion.
7. Profit before tax rose 29.2% to ₦414.1 billion, from ₦320.6 billion.
8. Profit after tax rose 23.5% to ₦266.7 billion, from ₦215.9 billion.
9. Basic earnings per share rose 20.4% to 448 kobo, from 372 kobo.
Income tax for the period was ₦147.4 billion. Total comprehensive income stood at ₦155.9 billion, a turnaround from a loss of ₦24.4 billion a year earlier, as other comprehensive losses narrowed to ₦110.8 billion from ₦240. billion.
Balance Sheet
The report stated that as at 30 June 2026, total assets grew 6.8% to ₦55.24 trillion from ₦51.71 trillion at 31 December 2025. Customer deposits rose 7.9% to ₦37.31 trillion, and loans and advances to customers increased 5.9% to ₦14.13 trillion. Shareholders’ funds reached ₦4.57 trillion, up 2.0%.
Impaired loans and advances stood at ₦579.1 billion, or 3.34% of gross risk assets.
The lower impairment charge lifted net interest income after impairment 23.3% to ₦930.6 billion. Fee and commission income rose 37.0% to ₦435.1 billion, while fee and commission expense fell 4.9%.
Several items weighed on earnings. Operating expenses grew faster than operating income, which rose 2.2% to ₦1.39 trillion.
The group booked a ₦148.4 billion net loss on a fair value hedge and a ₦37.6 billion net foreign exchange loss, against a gain of ₦45.9 billion a year earlier.
The cost-to-income ratio rose to 65.2% from 51.7% for full-year 2025, which management attributes to higher personnel costs. Annualised return on average equity was 18.3% before tax and 11.8% after tax. Net interest margin improved to 4.9% from 3.8%.
Access Bank contributed 96.8% of group profit before tax, and operations in the rest of Africa and international markets made up 79.8% of banking group profit before tax.
Among non-banking businesses, Access Pensions manages more than ₦4.6 trillion for over two million account holders, Hydrogen processed ₦86 trillion in transactions, and Oxygen X Finance originated about 12,000 loans worth ₦20 billion.
Access Holdings was incorporated in February 2021 as the holding company following a scheme of arrangement involving Access Bank. Its business segments are deposit money banking, wealth and investment management, financial technology and insurance.
The Board did not propose an interim dividend for the period. Management says it is working to comply with Section 19(8)(c) of BOFIA, which caps the bank’s investment in subsidiaries at 10% of shareholders’ funds. Capital recalls from six banking subsidiaries are planned: one is complete, shareholders have approved four of the remaining five, and regulatory approvals are in progress. The group expects to finish within the Central Bank of Nigeria’s timeline, which it says would remove the constraint on dividends.
Administrator and Writer
