• Group profit reached 743 billion naira ($481 million) in 2025, but Nigeria pretax earnings dropped 19%

• Africa subsidiaries doubled their contribution; Congo unit profit rose to 28 billion naira ($18 million)

• Operating cash flow swung to a positive 886 billion naira ($574 million) from a deficit of 895 billion

Access Holdings Plc, parent of one of Nigeria's largest banks by total assets, posted a 16% rise in 2025 net profit to 743 billion naira ($481 million), even as pretax earnings from its Nigerian operations declined and the rest-of-Africa franchise emerged as the group's fastest-growing engine.

Pretax profit from Nigeria, which still accounts for 54% of group assets, fell to 584 billion naira ($378 million) from 723 billion naira ($468 million) a year earlier, according to consolidated financial statements published April 30 and audited by KPMG Professional Services. Profit from the rest of Africa rose to 284 billion naira ($184 million) from 144 billion naira ($93 million), while international operations contributed 289 billion naira ($187 million).

"Our 2025 performance reflects both the resilience of the Access franchise and the strength of the institution we have built," Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Innocent C. Ike said in a statement released by the company on April 30. "We have now entered a more deliberate optimization phase, with a stronger focus on returns on capital, earnings quality, and long-term value creation," Ike added.

Group earnings per share fell 19% to 1,348 kobo from 1,671 kobo in 2024, even as headline profit climbed. The decline reflected another comprehensive income loss of 284 billion naira ($184 million), including 272 billion naira ($176 million) of foreign-currency translation losses on African subsidiaries, the income statement showed. Profit attributable to parent shareholders fell to 409 billion naira ($265 million) from 1.10 trillion naira ($712 million) a year earlier.

Democratic Republic of Congo lift

Access Bank D.R. Congo, a 99.98%-owned subsidiary, posted net profit of 28 billion naira ($18 million) in 2025, double the 14 billion naira ($9 million) recorded in 2024, condensed financial data in note 27 of the annual report showed. Operating income at the Kinshasa unit grew 50% to 85 billion naira ($55 million), while operating expenses rose 19%, bringing the cost-to-income ratio to 51.7% from 64.8%. The subsidiary's first-quarter 2026 statements showed operating income of 20 billion naira ($14 million) and pretax profit of 11 billion naira ($7 million), sustaining the prior-year run rate.

Customer loans at the DR Congo subsidiary grew to 201 billion naira ($131 million) in 2025 from 121 billion naira ($78 million) a year earlier, before easing to 179 billion naira ($121 million) at end-March 2026, according to the same notes. Investment securities at the unit reached 250 billion naira ($163 million) from 128 billion naira ($83 million). The subsidiary booked an income tax charge of 12 billion naira ($8 million) in 2025, compared with no recorded income tax expense in 2024, the data showed.

Loan-loss provisions across the group rose to 524 billion naira ($339 million) in 2025 from 245 billion naira ($159 million), with 537 billion naira ($348 million) concentrated in Nigerian operations alone. The non-performing loan ratio moved to 2.68% from 2.76%, according to the directors' report. Net interest income from Nigeria fell 31% in the first quarter of 2026 from a year earlier, deeper than the 11% contraction recorded for the full year 2025, segment data in the interim statements showed.

The Central Bank of Nigeria approved a 21.4 billion-naira ($14 million) private placement on Feb. 20, bringing the holding company into compliance with minimum paid-up capital requirements under the 2014 Financial Holding Companies Guidelines, according to the directors' report. Non-controlling interests on the balance sheet rose to 447 billion naira ($291 million) from 216 billion naira ($140 million), after Access Bank diluted its stakes in subsidiaries in South Africa, to 64.19% from 97.89%, and in Mozambique, to 88% from 99.98%, the subsidiary register showed. Group goodwill rose to 167 billion naira ($109 million) from 126 billion naira ($82 million) after acquisitions of Standard Chartered Bank's Gambia unit and its consumer banking segment in Tanzania, alongside Access Bank UK's purchase of a 76% stake in Mauritius-based AfrAsia Bank Limited on July 22, 2025.

Operating cash flow swung to a positive 886 billion naira ($574 million) from a deficit of 895 billion naira ($580 million) in 2024, the cash-flow statement showed. Customer deposits grew 53% to 34.56 trillion naira ($22.5 billion), while interbank deposits fell 60% to 3.73 trillion naira ($2.4 billion), restructuring the group's funding mix toward retail balances. Loans and advances to customers expanded 16% to 13.34 trillion naira ($8.7 billion) during the year.

Fair-value and foreign-exchange gains contributed 1.05 trillion naira ($680 million) to 2025 revenue, exceeding the group's pretax profit of 1.01 trillion naira ($652 million). The 2025 cost-to-income ratio improved to 51.7% from 56.7%, while return on average equity stood at 18.4%, down from 21.6% a year earlier, according to the company's results statement. Access Holdings did not specify a date for its 2026 annual general meeting in the documents reviewed, though management announced an investor and analyst conference call to discuss the results.

Idriss Linge