Access Bank Plc yesterday announced a profit before tax of N16.2bn for the twelve months ended December 2010.

Access Bank Plc yesterday announced a profit before tax of N16.2bn for the twelve months ended December 2010.

The report which was contained in its audited results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2010 released on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), has 564 percent increase in net profit before tax in the year under review.

The bank which also recommended a dividend payment of 50k per share, said it recorded a Gross Earnings at N91.1 billion, Loans up 16percent to N456 billion, Deposits up by 15percent to N509.6 billion, Loans to Deposits at 88.3percent, Capital Adequacy at 26.52percent, Liquidity Ratio of 36.91percent.

Group Managing Director of the bank, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, said: “The macro prudential initiatives instituted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stimulate the Nigerian economy towards the path of sustainable growth and to ensure recovery of the Nigerian Banking sector have provided a launch pad for Banks with strong fundamentals to grow their business profitably.

“I am pleased to report that our 2010 performance places Access Bank amongst the leaders in the Nigerian banking industry and more importantly our focus on business sustainability will ensure the sustenance of our renewed growth trajectory.

Daily Champion recalled that

Access Bank pioneers adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Nigeria, the bank also won the award of most active Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP) issuing Bank in Africa.

Commenting on the performance of the Bank�s strategic Business Segments, Herbert Wigwe, Group Deputy Managing Director said “I am pleased that we almost doubled our gross earnings from Commercial Banking business in the financial year ended 2010. This combined with successful efforts to recover provisioned assets ensured the segment returned to strong profitability.

“Our treasury business contributed strongly to bottom line profits, whilst our increased lending to top corporates clients by our Institutional Bank came at reduced margins.

We ee tremendous opportunities in our Retail Banking segment and have made significant various investments around personnel, risk management capacity, and product development all geared towards an aggressive retail expansion drive in 2011,” he said.

Source : Daily Champion