February 16, 2024

Access Financial Limited (AFS) for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, reported $1.64 billion in total interest income, a 22% increase relative to the $1.34 billion recorded in 2022. Of this, Interest Income from Loans amounted to $1.63 billion (2022: $1.33 billion), while Interest Income from Securities totalled $2.52 million (2022: $8.63 million). Total Interest Income for the quarter amounted to $581.91 million, a 26% increase from the $461.32 million recorded during the same period in 2022.

Interest Expense for the period totalled $265.36 million, a 28% increase compared to the $207.44 million booked in 2022. This resulted in AFS recording a Net Interest Income of $1.37 billion for the period, a 21% increase from the $1.13 billion booked in 2022. Interest Expense for the third quarter amounted to $92.63 million (2022: $78.84 million).

Net Fee & Commission Income for the period under review decreased by 30% to $222.54 million from the $317.83 million booked in 2022.

Net Trading Income increased by 10% to $1.59 billion (2022: $1.45 billion), with $561.27 million booked in the third quarter of 2023 (2022: $487.49 million).

AFS reported income from money services of $955,000 (2022: $1.08 million) and other income of $124.62 million (2022: $96.55 million). Foreign Exchange gains of $1.97 million was reported this period relative to the $2.23 million booked same time last year. As such, Operating Income for the period increased 28% totalling $127.55 million compared to $99.85 million recorded in 2022.

AFS reported Operating Expenses for the period of $1.34 billion (2022: $1.22 billion). Of this:

Staff Cost totalled $524.68 million (2022: $540.69 million).

Allowance for Credit Losses amounted to $269.82 million (2022: $207.06 million).

Depreciation & Amortization amounted to $83.47 million (2022: $83.85 million).

Other Operating Expenses booked for the period totalled $396.70 million (2022: $367.56 million).

Consequently, Profit before taxation increased 15% to $378.26 million for the period relative to $328.22 million recorded in 2022. For the third quarter of 2023, profit before taxation amounted to $130.60 million, a 11% increase from 2022’s $117.80 million.

AFS paid taxes amounting to $103.07 million (2022: $102.21 million). Consequently, AFS booked a Profit for the Period for the period of $324.97 million, a 44% increase relative to the $226.01 million recorded for the comparable period in 2022. Profit for the third quarter was $90.97 million (2022: $93.00 million).

Total Comprehensive Income increased 66% to $351.58 million from $211.57 million booked the same time last year. AFS reported Total Comprehensive Income for the third quarter of $87.83 million (2022: $86.69 million).

Consequently, Earnings Per Share for the nine months amounted to $1.18 (2022: EPS: $0.82), while Earnings Per Share for the quarter totalled $0.33 (2022: EPS: $0.34). The twelve month trailing EPS was $1.46, and the number of shares used in these calculations was 274,509,840.

Notably, AFS’s stock price closed the trading period on February 15, 2024, at a price of $22.68 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 15.56x.

Balance Sheet Highlights

The company’s assets totalled $7.22 billion (2022: $6.25 billion). The growth in total assets was primarily driven by a 14% uptick in ‘Loans and Advances’ to close at $5.66 billion (2022: $4.97 billion).

Shareholder’s equity was $2.94 billion (2022: $2.87 billion), representing a book value per share of $10.71 (2022: $10.46).

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