TheCable

Access Bank Plc, gained today after it said first-quarter net profit rose 25 % as revenue climbed.

The stock gained 40 kobo or 4.68% to close at 8.59 naira in Lagos trading.

The price increase is a response to the result announced by the bank, Raheem Mohammed, chief operating officer of Kundila Finance Services Ltd said.

Investors are expecting good returns from the bank at the end of the year,’’ he said by phone from Lagos. The stock closed on bid, he added.

Profit after tax for the three months through March rose to 11.63 billion naira from 9.30 billion naira a year earlier, the Lagos-based lender said in a statement published today on the website of the Nigerian stock exchange.
Earnings rose 9.4% to 57.27 billion naira, while net interest income climbed 8% to 36.64 billion naira, it said. Earnings per share rose to 51 kobo from 41 kobo, while EPS from continuing operations rose to 53 kobo from 42 kobo, the bank said.
Access shareholders at an annual general meeting on Wednesday approved a plan by the bank to raise $1 billion, an official of the bank confirmed to TheCable.

The fund, which will be raised in tranches, will be used to beef up the lender’s operations.

Access did not indicate when the amount will be raised.