Yinka Kolawole
7 August 2008
Access Bank Plc has posted a profit before tax of N19 billion for its operations in the last financial year ended March 31, 2008, indicating an increase of 136 percent over the N8 billion recorded in 2007.
It also declared a total sum of N10,492,627,600 as dividend payment, translating to 65 kobo for every 50 kobo ordinary shares held by shareholders as at March 31, 2008.
Chairman of the bank, Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, disclosed this at the 19th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank, Tuesday, in Lagos. He declared that the bank also recorded remarkable improvements in gross earnings which grew by 111 percent to N57.9 billion from N27.8 billion in the previous years. Total assets and contingents grew by 198 percent from N408 billion in 2007 to N1.2 trillion in 2008, while shareholders' funds rose to N177 billion from N30.7 billion in 2007 following its successful public offering in 2007.
Oyebode noted that Access Bank pursued an aggressive expansion drive into the African market by commencing operation in some sub-Saharan African countries. "In line with our objective of becoming Africa's bank of best practice, we have continued to pursue expansion opportunities that make strategic and economic sense.
"Our expansion in Africa which commenced with our operations in The Gambia and sierra Leone, has been intensified. We have since acquired controlling stake in three banks - Omnifinance Bank Cote d'Ivoire, Bancor Bank of Rwanda and Banque Privee du Congo of Congo Democratic Republic.
"All the acquisitions have received the regulatory approvals in Nigeria and the respective countries. In addition, we have also received a license for a banking subsidiary in Zambia. The acquisition of Omnifinance Bank will provide the platform for extending the bank's reach into the UEMOA (CFA Zone).
It will assist the bank to complete its coverage of West Africa's two monetary zones," he stated.The Access Bank Chairman also noted that the bank will leverage on the acquisition of Bancor Bank S.A Rwanda to grow market share and build scale in East African countries such as Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, while Banque Privee du Congo will facilitate the bank's entry into the Centarl African region. He asserted that the acquisitions will extend the bank's network coverage to six across Africa.
In his own remarks, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive, Access Bank, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, stated that the bank is projecting to be fully operational in countries which account for over 50 percent of sub-Saharan Africa Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the year 2012.
"The painstaking preparation we have undergone to ensure an effective, efficient and seamless expansion into new markets is reaping handsome dividends. Since we commenced implementation 12 months ago, our African network has grown to become the largest of any Nigerian bank, including those who started several years before us," he stated.
Aig-Imoukhuede said that the issues expected to confront the banking industry, including the new accounting standard on treatment of goodwill, uniform financial year end, amongst others, are pointers to an accelerated pace of market sophistication that will test the existing capacity of Nigerian banks, which he noted can only boost the bank's resolve to benchmark against international best practices. He therefore urged Access Bank's shareholders to prepare for that come with global excellence.
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