Economy
Access Bank to Pay HY Dividend as Earnings Hit N450.6bn
By Dipo Olowookere
Access Bank Plc is paying its shareholders an interim dividend of 30 kobo for the first half of 2021 ended June 30, a notice from the lender has confirmed.
However, the HY dividend is subject to appropriate withholding tax and would be paid on Wednesday, September 29 to shareholders whose names appear on the register of members as at the close of business on Thursday, September 16 and to those who have completed their e-dividend registration and mandated the registrar to pay their dividends directly into their bank accounts.
A look into the performance of the banking institution in HY 2021 showed that its gross earnings expanded to N450.6 billion from N396.8 billion in the same period of 2020.
Business Post observed that the corporate and investment banking arm of the business raked N167.9 billion versus N152.0 billion a year ago, the commercial banking earned N139.4 billion compared with N112.1 billion, the business banking generated N24.8 billion in contrast to N36.9 billion, while the retail segment added N118.6 billion versus N95.8 billion to the total revenue.
In terms of the geographical segments, the largest chunk of the earnings came from its Nigerian operations, raking N353.8 billion, higher than N338.6 billion in the same period of last year.
The lender said in the first six months of this year, its net interest income grew to N200.1 billion from N126.2 billion, while its net interest income after impairment charges rose to N171.4 billion from N109.7 billion.
In the period under consideration, Access Bank said it improved its fee and commission income to N73.7 billion from N51.8 billion as a result of a rise in channels and other e-business income, commission on other financial services, commission on bills and letters of credit, account maintenance charge and handling commission as well as credit-related fees and commissions.
However, its fee and commission expense rose in the same period to N15.0 billion from N11.2 billion, while the net fee and commission income closed at N58.7 billion, higher than N40.6 billion in HY 2020.
In the first half of the year, Access Bank said personnel costs swallowed N43.6 billion compared with N36.3 billion in the same period of 2020 mainly as a result of an increase in wages and salaries to N41.3 billion from N34.1 billion, while other operating expenses jumped to N126.1 billion from N120.7 billion despite a decline in bank charges, administrative expenses, communication expenses, outsourcing costs, advertisements and marketing expenses, recruitment and training, events, charities and sponsorship, security expenses, cash processing and management cost, and office provisions and entertainment costs.
When these costs and others were taken from the earnings, the bank was left with a profit before tax of N97.5 billion, higher than N74.3 billion as at June 30, 2020, while the profit after tax stood at N86.9 billion compared with N61.0 billion, signifying a 42.5 per cent improvement.
In the period, the earnings per share (EPS) grew to N2.48 from N1.73, while the total assets increased year-to-date to N10.1 trillion from N8.7 trillion in FY 2020, with the total liabilities rising year-to-date to N9.3 trillion from N7.9 trillion.
It was observed that deposits from customers in the first months of this year went up to N6.0 trillion from N5.6 trillion as at December 31, 2020, while loans to customers increased to N3.6 trillion from N3.2 trillion.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The much-awaited Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Oando Plc will take place on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, at 10 am in Lagos, a statement from the energy company has revealed.
The day would be used to present the audited financial statements of the organisation for the year ended December 31, 2023, to shareholders.
Oando will also seek the approval of investors to appoint Mr Ken Igbokwe and Mr Bashir Bello to the boards of the company with effect from Monday, November 25, 2024.
Mr Igbokwe is a highly experienced management and consulting professional with over 35 years of expertise in various sectors, including oil and gas, financial services and the public sector.
During his distinguished career at PwC Nigeria, he held key leadership roles in Assurance, Tax and Consulting.
His experience spans a wide range of areas such as statutory, financial and process audits and assurance, business valuations, dispute resolution, financial and information systems risk management, corporate strategy development, corporate performance management, and tax planning.
In his role as Country Leader of PwC Nigeria, Mr Igbokwe was responsible for driving strategic thinking and the visioning that underpinned the growth of the firm.
He was in this leadership position for 10 years during which PwC Nigeria’s business recorded tremendous growth with PwC becoming the leading “Big 4” brand. He led the PwC West Africa business into the Africa-wide PwC merger in 2012.
The new appointee contributes to public discourse and debates on public sector transformation in Nigeria and on matters which focus on corporate governance and the strengthening of the investment climate.
Mr Igbokwe holds a B.Sc. (Eng) degree in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College, London University, which he attended as a Shell Scholar and graduated from, in 1978.
He is a current member of the Institutes of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and Nigeria. He is also a current member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.
On his part, Mr Bello is an oil and gas professional with over 32 years of experience in Technical and Executive Management positions across the industry. His expertise spans all sectors, from Downstream (Refining) to Midstream (LNG) and Upstream (Exploration and Production), with a strong focus on Operations, Engineering, Project Management, and Corporate Governance.
He has served as a Board Member for Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Bonny Gas Transport Company, NLNG Ship Manning Company Limited, and various Board Committees of Nigeria LNG.
With a proven ability in Interface and Stakeholder Management, he is skilled at delivering business value in Joint Ventures with diverse shareholder agendas, managing projects with complex interfaces and stakeholder expectations, and overseeing operations with diverse functional requirements and limited resources.
Mr Bello holds a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) in Mechanical Engineering from Bayero University Kano, Nigeria. He is a Fellow of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), and a Registered Engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the monetary policy rate by 25 basis points to 27.50 per cent to further tackle rising inflation in Nigeria.
This was disclosed by the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, at the end of the 298th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja.
This is the sixth time that the country has hiked interest rate this year after it announced a 50-basis-point that brought the previous rate to 27.25 per cent in September 2024.
The rationale for increasing interest rates is that higher interest rates increase the cost of borrowing for individuals and businesses. This creates a ripple effect that reduces loans spent on items like homes, cars, and investments and curbs overall spending in the economy.
Normally, low interest rates can lead to excessive borrowing and investments in assets that will then inflate their prices.
Also, increased interest rates make saving more attractive as depositors earn more on their savings. It is widely accepted that saving reduces the demand for goods and services and thus helps to stabilise prices.
Mr Cardoso also used the opportunity to reiterate that the CBN will continue to employ necessary means to bring down inflation.
He projected that Nigeria’s high inflation should moderate by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
The inflation rate continued its upward trend in October 2024, impacted by rises in the price of food, electricity, and fuels, as it came in at 33.88 per cent, relative to the September 2024 headline inflation rate of 32.70 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange dropped by 0.37 per cent to open the week on a negative foot on Monday, November 25.
The NASD OTC market capitalisation lost N3.95 billion during the trading day to settle at N1.050 trillion compared with the previous trading day’s N1.054 trillion and the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased by 11.26 points to wrap the session at 2,997.68 points compared with 3,008.94 points recorded in the previous session.
This happened as there was no gainer or loser on record during the session, according to daily trading data.
However, there was a rise in the volume of securities traded during the opening session of the week as investors exchanged 1.7 million units compared with last Friday’s 157,791 units, indicating an increase of 948 per cent.
Also, the value of shares traded yesterday grew by 4.8 per cent to N6.5 million from the N6.2 million recorded in the preceding trading day.
The number of deals carried out in the trading session remained unchanged at 20 deals.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units sold for N3.9 billion, Okitipupa Plc came next with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc followed with 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.
Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, Okitipupa Plc came next with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc was in third with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 billion.
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