Access Holdings Plc Q1 2026 – Profit Rise Despite Loan Yield Decline

Highlights

• Gross earnings remained relatively flat at ₦1.38 trillion in Q1 2026 compared to ₦1.38 trillion in Q1 2025.
• Net interest income increased by 54% Year-on-year (YoY) from ₦220.21 billion (Q1 2025) to ₦338.86 billion (Q1 2026).
• Profit after tax (PAT) increased by 18% YoY from ₦182.75 billion (Q1 2025) to ₦216.54 billion (Q1 2026).
• Earnings Per Share (EPS) declined from ₦4.88k (Q1 2025) to ₦3.69k (Q1 2026).

Outlook

A significant portion of Q1 2026’s earnings came from gains on foreign exchange activities (non-core bank operations). The challenge: These gains are less predictable than earnings from lending, commission and fees (the bank’s core operations).  This is a marked improvement on last year, though, as foreign exchange gains made up 94% contribution of earnings before tax (EBT or PBT) in 2025. This year, 2026, it was 65% of total earnings. 

WSTC research expects that these foreign exchange gains will decline over time as the local currency (Naira) has shown stability over the last 12 months. 

Interest Income remains a cause of concern for Access Holdings Plc. The Group currently does not have a lot of room to grow its interest earnings via loans to customers and banks. The reason is simply, its CAR (capital adequacy ratio). As at Q1 2026, it has a CAR of 17.25%  (FY 2025: 18.09%).  The CBN CAR regulatory limit for international banks is 15%. This means, for the loans to grow, Access Holdings Plc may need to raise capital in the not-too-distant future. However, their ability to raise capital is not a concern

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