ACCESS BANK NIM EXPANSION, FEE INCOME GROWTH, DRIVE EARNINGS BEAT
Research
19 Nov 2021 · Results First Look
Access Bank (ACCESS) released its H1 21 audited results after the close of the market on Tuesday, 1 September. The group reported impressive Net profit growth of 42.6% y/y, driven by a 58.5% y/y surge in Net Interest Income. On the H1 21 EPS of N2.48, the board has proposed an interim dividend of N0.30/share (+20.0% y/y), in line with our estimates, which implies an interim dividend yield of 3.2% on yesterday's closing price.
On an annualised basis, the bank's earnings are tracking 30.8% and 21.7% ahead of our and consensus forecasts for 2021E, respectively. In our view, the growth is attributable to the bank investing maturing funds at higher yields, especially as rates rose in Q2 and the substantial rise in gross loans. We expect further market reaction to the result to be positive, buoyed by the increased dividend and the earnings beat. The stock rose 2.78% yesterday.
