Earnings Update- ACCESS: H1 2019.

Second Quarter Performance Takes Shine Off Impressive Results Access Bank Plc. (ACCESS) recently released its financial scorecard for the first half of 2019 which revealed a strong YoY growth in gross earnings (+28.20%), although this was slightly lower (-3.51%) than our estimates. Having finalized the merger with Diamond bank in late March, the second quarter result provides a clearer glimpse of the merged entity. Interestingly, the figures reveal a comparatively weaker second quarter performance relative to Q1:2019, as the company recorded marginal growth (+2.58%) in gross earnings and a net profit decline of 46.83% in the second quarter. The weak second quarter performance was driven by reduced income due to one-off items recognized in previous periods alongside losses from derivatives and FX trading, which led to a QoQ decline (-95.68%) in non-interest income. Higher personnel expenses (+44.37%) and other operating expenses (+19.26%) raised total operating expenses in the second quarter by 23.58%. We expect OPEX to remain slightly elevated in the second half of the year due to initial post-merger integration costs, though the impact would be offset by revenue synergies from the merged business. Kindly find attached the full report.

Second Quarter Performance Takes Shine Off Impressive Results
Access Bank Plc. (ACCESS) recently released its financial scorecard for the first half of 2019 which revealed a strong YoY growth in gross earnings (+28.20%), although this was slightly lower (-3.51%) than our estimates. Having finalized the merger with Diamond bank in late March, the second quarter result provides a clearer glimpse of the merged entity. Interestingly, the figures reveal a comparatively weaker second quarter performance relative to Q1:2019, as the company recorded marginal growth (+2.58%) in gross earnings and a net profit decline of 46.83% in the second quarter. The weak second quarter performance was driven by reduced income due to one-off items recognized in previous periods alongside losses from derivatives and FX trading, which led to a QoQ decline (-95.68%) in non-interest income. Higher personnel expenses (+44.37%) and other operating expenses (+19.26%) raised total operating expenses in the second quarter by 23.58%. We expect OPEX to remain slightly elevated in the second half of the year due to initial post-merger integration costs, though the impact would be offset by revenue synergies from the merged business. Kindly find attached the full report.