United Bank for Africa Plc and Access Holdings Plc both released their FY2025 results recently, and shareholders and investors were left disappointed. Not necessarily by the numbers emanating from the results, but by the omission of dividends for the financial year.
Not that investors were completely oblivious to the likelihood of tempered expectations from both institutions, especially with the eagle-eyed monitoring from the Central Bank of Nigeria, but many did not anticipate it at this level of declaring no final dividend at all. As the African adage implies, when a child does not perform well in school, he delays showing his report card to his parents. It is therefore not surprising that both banks, alongside some others, delayed publishing their 2025 audited results.
Taking cues from the Biblical account of Nicodemus visiting quietly at night, and reminiscent of how the Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission shamelessly announced the 2023 presidential election results in the wee hours of the morning, both companies released their FY2025 results at the dead of the night of the last work day ushering into weekends. The timing appears deliberate, perhaps to dampen or soften immediate market reactions from disappointed investors and shareholders. They also paired this with the release of their Q1 2026 results, possibly as a counterbalance to sentiment.
Several investors have complained about how they had planned their personal cashflows around expected dividends, from school fees to household expenses, and even retirement income. This disappointment is amplified by the current inflationary pressure, worsened by the ripple effects of the US-Iran tensions, which has driven up energy costs and, by extension, transportation and the general prices of goods and services.
What the Numbers Say
A closer look at the audited results shows a divergence in performance, though converging in outcome from a shareholder perspective. A summary of both Banks 2025 audited results can be seen in the table below.
UBA recorded a contraction across key performance lines. Gross earnings declined by 3 percent year on year, operating income fell by 12 percent, while profit before tax and profit after tax both dropped by 47 percent. Earnings per share declined by 56 percent, and dividend per share fell sharply by 95 percent, while personnel expenses grew to ₦376 billion. A significant line item to note was the impairment charge for credit losses on loans, which stood at ₦331 billion for 2025, largely in line with regulatory directives around forbearance and insider exposures.
Providing context to these numbers, the Group Managing Director of UBA Plc, Oliver Alawuba, noted:
“UBA continues to demonstrate the true strength of its Pan-African diversified model, despite the moderation in bottom-line performance compared to the prior year’s highs, our core business engines, especially in our subsidiaries outside Nigeria delivered double-digit growth.”
This reinforces a key point that is sometimes lost in headline numbers. Beneath the pressure on profitability, there remains a diversified earnings base, particularly from UBA’s African subsidiaries, which continues to provide resilience.
Further insight was provided by the Executive Director, Finance and Risk Management, Ugo Nwaghodoh:
“The 2025 financial year marked a deliberate strengthening of the balance sheet and a shift toward more sustainable, higher-quality earnings in a normalizing macroeconomic environment. We believe that proactively recognizing potential credit losses positions us well to navigate uncertainties and support sustainable performance in future periods; consequently, impairment charges increased to ₦331.1 billion from ₦216.9 billion, reflecting our prudent and forward-looking approach to credit risk. Furthermore, the reversal of prior-year derivative gains and foreign exchange-related losses of ₦282.5 billion drove a decline in non-interest income; these will not recur in this magnitude and should result in future earnings upside. Despite the impact of these changes on profitability, our core business fundamentals remain strong. Our capital and liquidity positions remain strong, with shareholders’ funds now at N4.25 trillion and capital adequacy ratio at 23.2%, having exited the CBN forbearance regime in 2025. The bank is also intensifying recovery efforts on the provisioned loans, creating a clear pathway for earnings upside.”
There is a certain honesty in this framing. It suggests that what we are seeing is less of a collapse in business fundamentals and more of a deliberate clean-up phase, where the recognition of risks today is intended to preserve earnings quality tomorrow. However, this 'story' did not bode well with investors who went on a selling spree on the resumption of trade the following week, leading to a significant decline in UBA PLC's share price.
Access Holdings, on the other hand, delivered growth across its topline and core profitability metrics. Gross earnings rose by 13 percent, operating income by 24 percent, and both profit before tax and profit after tax increased by 16 percent. However, earnings per share declined by 19 percent (as a result of increased shares outstanding from additional capital raise), and impairment provisions came in significantly higher at ₦523 billion. Despite the growth narrative, no dividend was declared for the year under review. While shareholders were left in the cold, personnel expenses for the year increased to ₦504 billion.
Interestingly, both institutions reported stronger balance sheets, with UBA growing total equity by 24 percent and Access Holdings by 15 percent. From a prudential standpoint, this suggests a deliberate effort to build resilience, even if it comes at the expense of immediate shareholder returns.
In providing context to its performance, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, Innocent C. Ike, noted:
“Our 2025 performance reflects both the resilience of the Access franchise and the strength of the institution we have built. In a dynamic operating environment, we delivered strong earnings supported by diversified income streams, disciplined execution, and a continued focus on balance sheet optimization. We have now entered a more deliberate optimization phase, with a stronger focus on returns on capital, earnings quality, and long-term value creation”.
This perspective offers a useful lens through which to interpret the numbers. While the absence of dividends remains a point of concern for investors, management appears to be signaling a shift from a growth-at-all-costs posture (in line with their last 5 year growth Strategy) to a more measured focus on quality and sustainability of earnings.
On its business model and diversification, Access Holdings continues to position itself beyond a traditional banking structure. While the banking subsidiary still accounts for approximately 97 percent of revenue, the Group is making steady progress in building a broader earnings base. Its investment management and insurance platforms, including Access ARM Pensions and Access Insurance Brokers, are designed to provide stable and recurring income streams over the long term. At the same time, its technology-led consumer finance and payments platforms, including Oxygen X Finance and Hydrogen Payment Services, are advancing its footprint within the digital financial services space.
What emerges from this is a picture of an institution in transition, one that is evolving into a diversified financial services platform, with an eye on resilience across cycles and less dependence on traditional interest income.
This transition is also evident in its strategic direction. Having built scale across markets and segments, the Group is now shifting its emphasis towards disciplined capital allocation, efficiency, and return optimization. The priorities are becoming clearer, improving return on capital, strengthening earnings quality, deepening cost discipline, and expanding capital-light, fee-based revenue streams, while continuing to optimize the balance sheet to support sustainable growth. The underlying objective, as articulated, is to build a more valuable institution defined by consistent and resilient returns.
The Regulatory Undercurrent
Investor frustration has also been directed at the policy direction of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Investors have expressed displeasure at how the CBN has handled its orthodox policies, without recourse to shareholders and investors. There is a growing sentiment that the sequence and structure of regulatory interventions have not fully considered the expectations of shareholders.
The apex bank allowed the Federal Government to impose windfall taxes on banks following significant FX gains after the naira floatation, rather than using that opportunity to enforce balance sheet clean-up. Subsequently, banks were mandated to raise additional capital, with a deadline of March 31, 2026. The industry responded, raising over ₦4.6 trillion through various means including rights issues, private placements and public offers, drawing in both institutional and first-time investors who were, in many cases, anchored on the historical dividend-paying reputation of these banks.
The eventual regulatory stance, which constrained dividend payments for some of these institutions, has therefore created a disconnect between investor expectations and actual outcomes. It raises an important question about policy sequencing and communication in a market that is still building long-term investor trust.
A Quiet Lesson for Investors
An investment analyst, who preferred to remain anonymous, offered a perspective that is worth reflecting on. When investing, one must be cautious about businesses driven by overly ambitious founders or executive teams, particularly in environments where full disclosures may not always be available. In the Nigerian banking context, issues such as insider-related loans and regulatory forbearance are not always fully transparent to the average shareholder.
This does not invalidate the long-term potential of these institutions, nor does it diminish their role in the financial ecosystem. However, it reinforces a timeless principle in investing. Returns are not just a function of performance, but also of structure, governance, and timing.
In the end, what we are witnessing is not merely a story of missed dividends, but a broader lesson on expectation, regulation, and the evolving realities of the Nigerian financial market.
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