One
of Africa’s largest banking groups, Access Bank Plc, has announced its audited
result for the financial year ended December, 2013. An analysis of the results
released on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange today validated the Bank’s
capacity for sustainable growth.
The results showed an
increase in the Bank’s deposit base from N1.201 trillion N1.33 trillion, an 11%
growth over last year’s figure while its loan book rose impressively by 33%,
from N609bn in 2012 to N810bn in 2013, demonstrating the Bank’s resolve to
empowering critical sectors of the economy. The performance for the financial
year under review is strong testament to Access Bank’s positioning as one of
Nigeria’s Tier 1 Banks.
A glance through the
numbers also revealed that the Bank’s earnings grew to N206.7bn from N206.4bn
in 2012. Similarly, the Bank recorded an improvement in its cost of funds from
4.5% to 4.6% while Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio decreased to 2.7% from 5.0%
which is owed to the Bank’s enhanced risk management framework.
Also, the Bank posted a
Profit Before Tax (BPT) of N44.9bn which is a 3.4% decrease compared to the
N46.bn recorded for the corresponding period in 2012. This is however
attributable to regulatory changes in the operating environment, some of which
include raising
of the cash reserve requirements (CRR) on public sector deposits to 50% from
12%, reduction and removal of a number of fee income lines such as ATM and CoT
charges as well as the increase in AMCON levy from 0.3% to 0.5% amongst others.
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