By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The board of Access Bank Plc has released the financial statements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2018.
The results, announced on Friday, showed improvements in both the topline and bottomline when compared with what were recorded in the previous financial year ended December 31, 2017.
For example, the gross earnings of the bank increased by 84.8 percent to N528.8 billion from N459.1 billion achieved a year earlier.
For the profit before tax, it improved by 32 percent to N103.2 billion from N78.2 billion, while the profit after tax appreciated by 58.1 percent to N95 billion from N60.1 billion.
A further analysis of the numbers showed that Access Bank raked N360.3 billion from interest income on financial assets not at FVTPL/ not held for trading, while the interest income on financial assets at FVTPL/held for trading stood at N20.6 billion compared with N25.5 billion in FY 2017.
The net interest income rose to N173.6 billion from N163.5 billion, with the net impairment charge closed at N14.7 billion in the period under review compared with N34.5 billion a year earlier.
Fee and commission income closed at N62.1 billion versus N56.7 billion, while the fee and commission expense ended at N9.6 billion against N7.3 billion.
For the earnings per share (EPS), it increased to N3.31k from N2.11k.
Meanwhile, the board, in rewarding the company’s shareholders, proposed a final dividend of 25 kobo per share, bringing the total dividend to 50 kobo per share for the 2018 financial year, which should be paid on Thursday, April 25, 2019.
