Access Bank Plc on Wednesday released its 2018 half year result to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The bank’s 2018 half year unaudited financial reports, which was obtained today, revealed a 2.62 percent growth in Gross Earnings, closing at N253 billion from the previous close of N246 billion in the first half of 2017.

The financial institution’s Profits After Tax (PAT) grew from N39.4 billion in H1’17 to N39.6 billion H1’18.

The Earnings Per Share (EPS) appreciated by 0.42 percent from previous year’s 1.36kobo to current year’s 1.37kobo.

The current period’s PE Ratio is at 6.9x; while the earnings yield stands at 14.4 percent with a reference price of N9.50 at the date of computation.

The bank proposed interim dividend of 25kobo for every share of 50 kobo to the shareholders to be approved subject to appropriate withholding tax with qualification on Tuesday, September 11, 2018.

Access bank stated that the register of shareholders will be closed on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, while payment of dividend will be done electronically on Friday, September 2, 2018.

Commenting on the results, Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director said, “Despite the macro and regulatory headwinds, our underlying business remained strong as reflected in the gross earnings growth.

We grew our loan book to position it for improved earnings, whilst driving deposit mobilization from targeted segments to diversify our funding base”, Wigwe stressed.