Access Bank Plc on Wednesday submitted its unaudited result for the nine-month ended September 30, 2015, showing that net profit grew slightly slower than earnings.
Profit for the period was impaired by a 66 per cent growth in provision for loan impairment, from N6.959 billion in the correspondent period of 2014 to N11.55 billion.
According to the result, gross earnings rose by 42 per cent to N257.59 billion from N181.387 billion in the corresponding period of last year, as net interest income growth was flat at N75.897 billion. Total expenses for the period jumped by 38 per cent to N106.171 billion from N76.875 billion, leaving a profit before tax of N60.372 billion. This represents a 45 per cent improvement on the previous N41.745 billion, while net profit climbed by 36 per cent from N35.42 billion to N48.09 billion.
On the balance sheet, total assets improved by 14 per cent to N2.401 trillion from N2.104 trillion, as deposit base grew by 7 per cent from N1.454 trillion to N1.557 trillion. Total liabilities rose 12 per cent to N2.049 trillion, as against the previous N1.826 trillion, just as shareholders funds or net assets improved by 27 per cent from N351.962 billion from N277.411 billion.
Commenting on the score card, analysts at Lagos-based FBN Capital Limited noted on Wednesday that Access Bank’s “PBT and PAT beat our forecasts by 67 per cent and 55 per cent respectively, mainly because of the positive surprise on the non-interest income line which came in around 42 per cent ahead of what we were modelling. In addition, loan loss provisions were almost half of what we were expecting. Access Bank’s NPL ratio remained under 2 per cent as of end-September.”
