Herbert Wigwe, the Group Managing Director and CEO of Access Bank Plc, has explained that his bank’s resilient performance despite challenging economic landscape was a testament to the effectiveness of its strategy and capacity to generate sustainable revenue.
He spoke while declaring the bank’s performance in the year ended,December 31,2020
He said:“The strategic actions that the bank has taken over the past 12 months evidence a strong focus on retail banking and financial inclusion, an African expansion strategy and a drive for scale for sustainable value creation. In 2020, Access Bank proudly opened its doors for business in Kenya and Mozambique, further increasing our footprints across the African Continent.
“Access Bank Zambia also concluded the acquisition of Cavmont Bank Limited in January 2021 and the Group recently announced the approval by relevant regulatory authorities for the acquisition of Grobank Limited, creating an inroad into the South African market in realization of the Group’s strategic ambitions.
“In view of the opportunities that exist in the market, we will be transitioning to a HoldCo structure. The Bank has received the Approval-In-Principle from the Central Bank of Nigeria for the restructuring and the HoldCo will consist of 4 subsidiaries in order to tap into the market opportunities that are available in the consumer lending market, electronic payments industry and retail insurance market. Going into the fourth year of our 5-year cyclical strategy, our focus remains on consolidating our retail momentum and expanding our African footprint in a sustainable manner,” Wigwe said.
The bank announced gross earnings of ₦764.7bn for the financial year ended December 31, 2020.
Its audited gross earnings shows a 15% improvement from the ₦666.75bn posted for the comparative period of 2019. While the Bank’s Profit Before Tax stood at ₦125.9bn, it also posted a non-interest income of ₦275.5bn, a significant 112% y/y growth from 2019. This is despite the cost of operating its enlarged franchise.
Besides,the bank recorded a consistent growth in its retail banking business, reporting a 5.8mn growth in customer sign-on during the year through our financial inclusion efforts. This increase in customer base led to a retail revenue of ₦177.2bn, a 64.4% increase from its FY 2019 figures of ₦107.8bn. The Bank’s customer deposits also grew by 31% to ₦5.59trn in Dec 2020 with savings account deposits standing at ₦1.31trn. Similarly, net loans and advances grew by 18% to ₦3.61trn in comparison to its FY 2019 figures of ₦3.06trn.
“As the bank intensified recovery efforts, undertook significant write off and leveraged its robust risk management practices, its asset quality improved to 4.3% compared to its 2019 report of 5.8% and this is expected to continue to trend downwards as it strives to surpass the standard it had built in the industry prior to the merger with Diamond Bank,” he added
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