By John Okoh, Lagos
Herbert Wigue, MD
As the stock market continue to give some investors concerns, based on the relative decrease in the key market indicators, shareholders of Access Bank Plc are already counting their gains as the board of directors has proposed an interim dividend of 25 kobo for its existing shareholders.
The bank made this known to the investing public on Wednesday as contains in its 2017 audited financial statement for the period ended June 30.
According to the financial account, closure date for the corporate action is September 7, while payment date is September 21, 2017.
A brief analysis of the half-year result shows that the bank was able to grow its group gross earnings from N174, 011,869 billion in 2016 to N246, 575,403 billion in 2017. Profit before tax stood at N52, 048,768 billion which is above N43, 993,069 billion that was reported same period in 2016.
Profit for the period grew from N33, 637,748 billion in 2016 to N39, 459,944 billion in the same corresponding year under review. The group earnings per share stood at 138 kobo, which is above 117 kobo that was recorded in 2016. Meanwhile investors reacted positively to the bank share as it gained 3.96 percent to close at N10.24 kobo at the close of business on Tuesday.
