In banking, everything else on the balance sheet — capital, reserves, investments — ultimately exists to support one function: lending. Loan is the highest earning asset. It is what pays for deposits, covers overhead, meets regulatory targets, and keeps depositor relationships alive. As the old banking maxim goes, to call someone a good banker is really to call them a shrewd lender — one who lends money safely and profitably.
By that definition, Access Holdings’ FY 2025 results place it under the lending profitability test. The bank grew gross loans by 15.4% to N14.49 trillion from N12.55 trillion in FY 2024. Unlike many peers, it funded that expansion with an even faster 45.8% surge in customer deposits to N25.82 trillion. That is disciplined growth. It also reduced its borrowings by 12.2% to N3.68 trillion, choosing instead to fund growth with more stable customer deposits rather than short-term money from other banks.
The payoff showed up in the income statement. Net interest income rose 34.8% to N2.70 trillion. Profit before tax jumped 35.7% to N1.72 trillion from N1.27 trillion. The bank proved it could grow assets without stretching its funding base.
But a shrewd lender isn’t someone who avoids risk. It’s someone who prices it, provisions for it, and survives it. And in 2025, Access paid the price — with heavy impairments.
Impairment charges on financial assets more than doubled, rising 113% to N1.13 trillion from N530.1 billion in FY 2024. That increase far outpaced loan growth. This is the direct cost of pushing credit in a volatile economy. Instead of deferring problems, management took the hit upfront. Profit still rose, but only because the bank absorbed N1.13 trillion in provisions now rather than letting it compound later. That is the trade-off: grow the engine, but pay for the wear and tear immediately.
That tension defines the cost of aggression. When a bank grows fast and also hedges aggressively, the financials will show strain.
First, the 113% jump in impairments suggests credit was extended into riskier sectors and to foreign currency borrowers at a time of currency pressure. The provisioning shows prudence, but it also signals that credit risk is building faster than the portfolio.
Second, shareholders did not fully feel the benefit of higher profits. Despite the 35.7% rise in PBT, earnings per share fell 2.8% to N4.82 from N4.96. Equity was enlarged to N9.31 trillion from N6.48 trillion to support a bigger balance sheet. The institution became larger and safer, but not yet more efficient per share.
Third, the tools used to manage interest rate and currency mismatches created their own volatility. Other comprehensive income swung from a gain of N1.21 trillion in FY 2024 to a loss of N1.10 trillion in FY 2025. That erased most of the total comprehensive income, which fell 81.6% to N620.3 billion. That is the price of running a large securities and derivatives book to protect the balance sheet, even as net gains on financial instruments surged 141% to N1.34 trillion from N556.8 billion.
Underneath these headlines, the results show deliberate handling of the three mismatches that make lending risky.
On duration, the classic problem is borrowing short and lending long. Access managed this by building a much stronger liquidity position. Cash and balances with central banks rose 31.3% to N8.42 trillion, and investment securities grew 46.3% to N10.81 trillion. Loans grew, but liquidity grew faster. That protects depositors and gives regulators comfort.
On interest rates, the risk is that deposit costs reprice faster than loan yields. Access avoided that trap. Interest expense rose only 12.8% to N2.93 trillion even as interest-earning assets expanded sharply, because funding shifted toward cheaper, stickier customer deposits. At the same time the bank did not depend only on loan spreads. Fee and commission income rose 61.5% to N1.21 trillion from N750.1 billion. Rate risk was turned into income.
On currency, naira devaluation made foreign currency positions both opportunity and threat. Access grew foreign currency earning assets, but cut back on foreign currency wholesale funding. Net foreign exchange losses of N238.9 billion were recorded, yet they were outweighed by revaluation and trading gains. The bank did not avoid currency risk. It positioned for it and used it to support earnings while protecting capital.
This is why the 2025 results read like a balance sheet trying to satisfy four demands at once: profit, liquidity, solvency, and regulation. Profit came from lending and from a more diversified income base. Liquidity came from deposit growth that turned operating cash flow to a N2.17 trillion inflow, from a N1.14 trillion outflow in FY 2024. Solvency was strengthened internally through retained earnings. Regulatory objectives were met through proactive provisioning and a funding mix that reduced systemic risk.
In the end, Access Holdings shows what modern astute lending looks like. It is no longer enough to grow loans. The task is to grow loans while building the buffers to survive when those loans go bad, when rates move, or when currencies swing. The loan portfolio remains the engine of banking, but its value is only realized when the mismatches it creates are actively managed. In 2025, Access kept the engine running. Heavy impairments were the cost. The reward was N1.72 trillion in PBT, a N9.31 trillion equity base, and a bank that expanded without breaking the constraints that keep it alive.
