It
was commendation galore at the 31st Annual General
Meeting (AGM) of Access Bank Plc held in Lagos as shareholders hailed the Board
of Directors, Management and Staff of the of the Bank for the highly
impressive performance for the 2019 financial year.
The
meeting, which was held by proxy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had
three leaders of various shareholders’ association
present.
Sir
Sunny Nwosu of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Mr.
Owolabi Peters of Integrated Shareholders Association of Nigeria and Mrs. Bisi
Bakare of Pragmatic Shareholders Association of Nigeria, said despite the
challenging operating environment, Access Bank Plc did not only record improved
results, but also rewarded shareholders with good a dividend that is very
timely given the difficulties created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For
instance, Nwosu said Access Bank Plc had a good foresight by merging with
defunct Diamond Bank Plc, noting that “the professional and seamless
manner with which the integration was done should be commended and
shareholders appreciate the board and management.”
According
to him, the future remains very bright for the all
shareholders, considering the synergy the merger has brought to the Bank and
the expertise the management and staff continued to deploy to ensure Access
Bank maintain a leading role in the retail banking space.
Nwosu
also commended leading efforts of Access Bank in the private-sector led
Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID), supporting the Federal Government to
fight the pandemic.
On
her part, Mrs. Bakare said unlike some of its competitors, Access Bank has
recorded increased profits in the past three years, noting
that shareholders have confidence in the board and management to
continue to deliver improved performance, going forward.
In
his address, Group Managing Director/CEO, Access Bank Plc, Dr. Herbert Wigwe,
said the Group delivered a 26 per cent increase in gross
earnings of N666.8billion from N528.7billion in 2018,
comprising interest in-come growth of 41 per cent from
previous levels to N155.9billion despite
declining interest rate environment.
“The
effects of an enlarged loan book contributed significantly to the interest income growth of
N155.9billion (+41 per cent y/y), leading to strong
bottom-line figures. The net effect on operating income resulted in strong
profit before tax (PBT) of N115.4billion as against
N103.2billion in 2018. The strength of the performance reflects a growing
franchise supported by digital capabilities and improving customer
service touchpoints. The retail business gained momentum, leveraging
opportunities in key sectors to consolidate market share dominance through
our digital loans. The wholesale business also continued to soar
in the year, following intense marketing drive and
continued investment in the sector to deliver stronger synergies,” he
said.
The
Bank ended the year with profit after tax (PAT) of N97.509 billion, up from
N94.981 billion and paid a final dividend of 40 kobo to bring the total
dividend to 65 kobo per share.
Wigwe
said the merger with Diamond Bank produced a truly diversified
institution with remarkable retail presence and solid wholesale market
share.
“This
has propelled us towards achieving our five- year strategic objectives to
create the largest bank in Nigeria by total assets as well as
largest in Africa by customer base with over 36 million unique customers across the
network. Using an agile approach and with strong dedication, we have achieved a significant milestone in financial
services on the continent whilst delivering the fastest and
most seamless customer Day 1 integration globally. With the emergence
of the new entity, the bank is well- positioned to cater to the retail
business through a broader reach and product offerings tailored to
individual customer needs and delivered efficiently. Access
Bank is now a tier one retail banking franchise with strong
digital payments capabilities and benefiting from a diversified business
mix,” he said.
Wigwe
said the bank is already addressing the issue high operating expenses and
taking drastic measures to ensure that expenses are reduced significantly,
adding the effect would be felt mostly in the second, third and final quarter of
2020.
Speaking
on how Access Bank is running its business in the COVID-19 period, the GMD
assured that Access Bank has put in place
a robust business continuity process enough to sustain the bank’s
performance going forward.
“Access
Bank was well prepared for the COVID-19 early enough and created ways of
working from home and working with our customers. We set up
links with our customers and many ways of reaching out to our customers
three or four times in a day. This happened even before we started
working with the larger society and enabled us to start fighting this
pandemic. So Access Bank has put a system in place and now working with
CACOVID to make sure that everyone knows what he is doing,” he said.