Access Holdings Plc told shareholders at its fourth annual general meeting that the board remained committed to resuming dividend payments as soon as the relevant regulatory conditions were satisfied, and said the era of growth for growth's sake was over.
BOARD COMMITMENT AND STRATEGIC SHIFT
"Our approach is clear: capital retained today must translate into value delivered tomorrow and sustainable returns to our shareholders," Group Chairman Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede told the meeting, held in Lagos on 10 June 2026.
He said efforts were being made to clear the impediments to dividend payment.
"The defining test of a financial institution is not merely its capacity for growth, but its ability to grow profitably, sustainably, and with discipline over time," Aig-Imoukhuede said. He described a new strategic framework, "From Scale to Value", under which pension management, insurance brokerage, consumer lending and digital payments businesses are expanding the group's earnings mix and reducing its dependence on net interest income.
2025 RESULTS AND INTERNATIONAL VALUE
The pledge came after the group paid no cash dividend for the 2025 financial year, a decision chairman Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede said reflected supervisory expectations and prudent capital management rather than diminished earnings capacity. The group reported 2025 profit before tax of N1.007 trillion and total assets of N51.56 trillion, while its impairment charge was elevated following its exit from Central Bank of Nigeria regulatory forbearance positions.
The chairman also said the market had not fully priced the contribution of Access Bank UK and other offshore operations to the group's value; Access Bank UK posted a pre-tax profit of N288.6 billion in 2025.
On leadership, the chairman said the appointments of Innocent Ike as Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer and of Ibironke Adeyemi as an Independent Non-Executive Director had been made with strategic continuity and stakeholder alignment as the primary objectives.
Sources: Nairametrics Finance
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