Access Holdings increased its profit before tax by 8.3% to ₦667.4 billion in the first nine months of 2026, up from ₦616.2 billion a year earlier, Technext reported. Profit after tax rose 5.9% to ₦474.2 billion from ₦447.5 billion.
Impairment charges on financial assets fell to ₦92.9 billion from ₦350 billion, which Technext said reflected fewer expected losses on loans and gave profit a boost, while net interest income was only slightly higher at ₦1.29 trillion, against ₦1.26 trillion the year before.
WHERE THE INCOME CAME FROM
Earnings reached ₦3.99 trillion, up from ₦3.90 trillion in the same period of 2025. Interest income rose to ₦2.95 trillion from ₦2.74 trillion, but interest expenses climbed from ₦1.65 trillion to ₦1.81 trillion, mainly because of the cost of deposits and funding.
Fee and commission income grew by 8.4% to ₦650.9 billion from ₦600.4 billion. Revenue from electronic banking and e-business services was ₦172.9 billion, a 14.2% increase from ₦151.3 billion. The group does not break that figure down between mobile banking, card payments, transfers, point-of-sale terminals and other electronic channels, Technext noted.
A MARKET BUILT AROUND HOLDING COMPANIES
Nigeria's commercial and merchant banks held N167.33 trillion of assets at end-2025, equivalent to about US$117 billion at the official rate, according to TGB's market profile. The CBN register lists 28 commercial, five merchant and five non-interest banks.
The largest lenders are organised under holding companies, several of which own banking subsidiaries outside Nigeria. Even the region's leader is some way from global scale: Standard Bank Group tops the TGB ranking for Sub-Saharan Africa with US$218 billion and is ranked 134th in the world, and no bank from the region is yet large enough to enter the Global Top 100.
DIGITAL COSTS MOVE IN BOTH DIRECTIONS
Electronic banking expenses fell by 10.9% to ₦98.5 billion in the nine months to September, from ₦110.6 billion a year earlier, according to Technext. These costs include services linked to alternative banking platforms and to debit and credit cards.
Charges for bank and electronic transfers, which are costs for the company rather than income from customer transfers, went the other way, rising by 25.3% to ₦17.4 billion from ₦13.9 billion. Technext noted that the group's overall profitability continues to rely on its lending operations, funding costs and impairment charges.
THE TGB VIEW
Access Holdings ranks 6th among the largest banks in Sub-Saharan Africa in the TGB Bank Rankings, with US$35.9 billion of total assets, but its equity was 7.5% of assets in 2025, against 15.6% at Zenith Bank, ranked 10th. Zenith also earned the higher return on equity, 21.1% against 18.5%. The nine-month figures show where this year's profit growth came from: impairment charges fell to ₦92.9 billion from ₦350 billion, providing a boost to profit, while net interest income rose only slightly to ₦1.29 trillion.
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