Access Bank has received all regulatory approvals to issue an Initial Public Offering (IPO) to raise money on the Ghana Stock Exchange to boost its capital and expand its lending scope.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) have all confirmed that the bank has met all requirements needed to issue an IPO and subsequently list on the local bourse.
“We know that Access Bank’s IPO has been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the GSE has also approved the application to list,” Kofi Yamoah, Managing Director of the GSE told the B&FT in an interview.
He added that he hopes the bank will commence selling the IPO and possibly list on the bourse before the end of the year.
“As to how they are going on about the timetable, we are yet to know the details, but if they go ahead as fast as possible then we can have Access list on the market before the end of the year.
Otherwise, I can guess that the offer period might be between now and the end of the year and the official listing will happen next year,” he added.
Dr. Adu Anane Antwi, Director General of the SEC also confirmed that the bank has met all the necessary requirements to offer its IPO to invest and subsequently list shares to boost activity on a very silent equities market.
“I do not have all the information yet but approval has been given, but they haven’t launched it yet. For them listing this year depends on how the offer goes; if they are able to finish the offer this year then definitely it will come on.”
Dr. Antwi added that with three months left to end the year, he believes Access Bank can raise the required capital and then list. “They will be able to do it.”
Due to a difficult economic environment, Access Bank’s 2015 Profit before Tax in 2015 remained at GH¢123 million, matching the same figure recorded in 2014. In spite of this occurrence, the bank’s results continue to show a positive and sustainable growth trajectory over the past seven years across its operations.
The year 2015 also saw an increase in the bank’s total assets by 41percent from GH¢1.7billion in 2014 to GH¢2.42billion in 2015. There was also significant growth in total deposits, which increased by 44percent to GH¢1.73billion in 2015 from GH¢1.2 billion in 2014.
Also, there was an increase in earning capacity as gross earnings went up by 35percent from GH¢312million in 2014 to GH¢421million in 2015.
Despite the industry’s Non-Performing Loans (NPL) rising to more than 10percent in 2015, Access Bank’s ratio dropped from 8.6percent in 2014 to 5.4percent in 2015.
Access Bank completed all regulatory requirements by the Bank of Ghana and commenced operations in May 2009 as a full service commercial bank.
In that same year the bank became one of the first to meet the Bank of Ghana’s GH¢60million minimum capital requirement for universal banks.
In 2010, the bank grew its customer base to over 2,000 within a year of operation and went ahead to win the Most Socially Responsible Bank and Best Bank in Agric Financing at the Ghana Banking Awards.
In 2012, Access Bank acquired Intercontinental Bank, within three months, making Access one of the largest retail banks in Ghana, increasing its stated capital to GH¢118 million and customer base to over 175,000 with 39 office locations.
In 2014, Access was awarded 2013 Bank of the Year and in 2015 it received ISO 9001:2008 Certification.
Soure: B&FT Online
