According to Dr. Herbert Wigwe, CEO of Access firm Plc, the firm’s decision to switch to a holding company structure was motivated by the desire to reposition the bank for global importance.
The completion of the Scheme of Arrangement between the bank and holders of its fully paid ordinary shares of 50 kobo each, which led to the listing of Access Holdings Plc and associated companies on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX Limited, coincided with the shareholders’ approval of the change in the Board of Directors.
“First of all, the Banking Act has established the fact that you rather be a bank place or you could simply choose a narrow license,” Wigwe stated during a media parley yesterday in Lagos. Therefore, we had previously decided to pursue a narrow license with Access Bank Plc, only a conventional component of the business, under Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the Central Bank governor. After completing our five-year plan, we decided that we wanted to establish a different kind of institution—one that offers a premium position in a globally connected ecosystem, among other things. Consequently, the limited license could no longer be adequate. Thus, we started another five years plan that culminated where we are to basically establish a holding company for this purpose”.
He continued, saying: “We moved the current Access Bank stockholders to the holding company. Naturally, we now had to move the traditional bank to the OTC platform, where Access Holding PLC is the sole stakeholder, and delist it from the NGX.
“The answer is that we are building a large business institution, and there is no reason why Access Bank might not be among the top five indigenous African banks in the next 15 years.”
In the meantime, the bank’s 2021 full-year results showed gross earnings of N971.9 billion, a 27% rise over the N764.7 billion reported in the 2020 fiscal year. During that time, profit before taxes (PBT) increased by 40 per cent Year on Year, y/y to N176.7billion from N125.9billion in 2020. Profit After Tax (PAT) also grew by 51 per cent y/y to N160.2billion from N106.0 billion in 2020.
