Access Holdings PLC closed 2025 with its strongest profit performance on record, reporting profit before tax of N1.007 trillion, up 16.16% from N867 billion in 2024, driven by a sharp rise in foreign exchange gains, higher fee income, and an expanded balance sheet anchored on deposits.
Profit after tax rose 15.70% to N743.045 billion, underscoring sustained top-line momentum. Yet the earnings picture was not uniformly expansionary, as earnings per share declined 19.33% to N13.48, reflecting dilution from a 16% increase in outstanding shares to 53.318 billion units.
The performance was boosted by a surge in non-interest income, particularly fair value and foreign exchange gains, which rose 152.51% year-on-year to N1.05 trillion. That single line item increasingly functions as a stabilizing pillar for earnings, offsetting pressure in core banking spreads and rising impairment charges.
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Gross earnings climbed 13.34% to N5.529 trillion, supported by a 14.10% rise in interest income to N3.546 trillion. Interest expenses, by contrast, fell marginally by 1.04% to N2.189 trillion, reflecting improved funding efficiency even as the bank expanded its liability base.
Deposit mobilization remained the dominant structural theme of the year. Customer deposits surged 53.44% to N34.562 trillion, now accounting for more than two-thirds of the group’s balance sheet. Total assets expanded 24.24% to N51.556 trillion, reinforcing Access Holdings’ position as one of the largest financial intermediaries in the region.
The bank’s asset mix tilted further toward investment securities, which rose 43.75% to N16.305 trillion, significantly outpacing loan growth of 16.13% to N13.341 trillion. The shift signals a cautious risk posture, with liquidity parked in higher-yielding instruments rather than aggressively expanded into private sector credit.
That strategy, however, came with trade-offs. Net interest income after impairment fell 18.52% to N883.341 billion, as impairment charges more than doubled, rising 113.42% to N523.550 billion. The spike underlines tighter provisioning against credit risk in a higher-rate environment and possibly early stress signals within parts of the loan book.
On the revenue diversification front, fee and commission income rose 40.90% to N585.068 billion, anchored by strong growth in credit-related fees, which nearly doubled to N330 billion. E-business channels contributed N215.268 billion, while other financial services added N101.587 billion, highlighting continued strength in transaction-led banking.
The most consequential driver of headline profitability remained trading and FX-related gains. The N1.05 trillion fair value and foreign exchange gain not only lifted non-interest income but also reinforced how sensitive Access Holdings’ earnings have become to currency and market volatility.
Retained earnings climbed 46.16% to N1.672 trillion, while shareholders’ funds rose 15.05% to N4.326 trillion, reflecting gradual capital accumulation despite earnings dilution at the per-share level.
Market reaction has remained positive. The stock opened 2025 at N21 and closed April at N27, a 28.6% year-to-date gain, suggesting investors are pricing in sustained profitability even as earnings composition shifts further toward non-core income sources.
However, financial analysts believe the underlying tension in the results is structural rather than cyclical. Deposit-led balance sheet expansion is supporting scale, but rising impairments and heavier reliance on FX gains point to a profit model increasingly shaped by macro volatility rather than pure lending growth.