Access Holdings profit rises 8.3% to ₦667.4bn as bad-loan charges fall

Access Holdings Plc made a profit before tax of ₦667.4 billion in the first nine months of 2026, up 8.3% from ₦616.2 billion in the same period last year, the banking group said in results filed on the Nigerian Exchange.

Profit after tax rose 5.9% to ₦474.2 billion. For the third quarter alone, profit before tax jumped 52.26% to ₦253.2 billion from ₦166.3 billion a year earlier.

The biggest push came from a sharp fall in the money the group set aside for loans that may not be repaid. Impairment charges dropped 73.5% to ₦92.9 billion from ₦350 billion.

That helped lift net interest income after impairment by 32.1% to about ₦1.2 trillion. Interest income rose 6.9% to ₦3.1 trillion, while interest expense grew 10.1% to ₦1.8 trillion, leaving net interest income up 2.7% at ₦1.3 trillion.

Fees also helped. Fee and commission income rose 8.4% to ₦650.9 billion, while costs on those activities fell 6.9%, lifting net fee and commission income 12.4% to ₦534.9 billion.

Costs still weigh on earnings

Not everything went up. Operating expenses rose 11.8% to ₦1.3 trillion, and other operating income fell 40.8% to ₦234.5 billion. Total operating income was therefore 3.2% lower at ₦2.06 trillion.

The cost-to-income ratio stood at 63.13%, better than the 65.2% reported at half-year but well above the 51.7% for the full year 2025. A lower ratio means the bank spends less to earn each naira.

Group managing director and chief executive officer Innocent Ike said the numbers showed the strength of the group's core earnings.

"The significant reduction in impairment charges, together with growth in net interest income after impairment and net fee and commission income, demonstrates the resilience of our core earnings base,"

he said, according to the filings.

The balance sheet grew. Total assets rose 1.7% to ₦52.6 trillion, customer deposits were up 6.6% to ₦36.9 trillion, and loans and advances to customers grew 7.4% to ₦14.3 trillion. Shareholders' funds were broadly flat at ₦4.5 trillion.

Most of the profit now comes from outside Nigeria. The banking group supplied 96% of group profit before tax, and 82.2% of that came from operations abroad. International banking subsidiaries contributed 43.7%, the rest of Africa 38.5%, and Nigeria 17.8%.

What happens next

Access Holdings said it is recalling capital from six banking subsidiaries to comply with Section 19(8)(c) of BOFIA, the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, which caps a bank's investment in subsidiaries at 10% of shareholders' funds.

One recall is complete, shareholder approvals have been secured in four of the remaining five, and regulatory approvals are progressing, the group said. It expects to finish within the timeline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

That matters to shareholders because the rule has limited the group's ability to pay dividends. The group said any dividend would still depend on its financial position, distributable reserves, capital needs and regulatory approval.

Management said its Scale-to-Value plan will focus on tighter risk controls, disciplined capital use, lower operating costs and steadier income, rather than simply growing bigger.