Access Holdings Loses 6% of Market Value as Bears Strike

Access Holdings Loses 6% of Market Value as Bears Strike

Access Holdings Plc lost more than 6% of its market value as bears struck, dragging the group’s valuation to N1.419 trillion at the close of Wednesday’s trading session.  

Nigeria’s largest bank by balance sheet size continues to attract the lowest market valuation among its immediate rivals in the financial services sector.

Stockbrokers said Access Bank’s non-operating holdings company share price fell 6.12% to N26.1 as about 41 million units, valued at N1.104 billion, traded midweek.

Its share price dipped for two consecutive trading sessions amid mounting sell pressure, which some analysts attribute to a sustained delay in the Q2 earnings release.

The group’s market value is generally considered below its intrinsic value, reflecting a weak dividend-payment track record, absent other catalysts.

Market analysts maintained that weak strategic communication has slowed price discovery, which can drive sharp re-rating; the largest banking group by total assets is the lowest among tier-1 names in market capitalisation.

Access Plc received regulatory approval to delay its first-half 2026 earnings release. This suggests the third-quarter earnings release will likely be delayed as well.

In its industry update, Fitch Ratings said Access Bank has breached a regulatory limit on its investments in foreign subsidiaries of 10% of shareholders’ funds, and its bank-solo CAR has only a moderate buffer over its 15% minimum regulatory requirement.

However, Fitch expects Access Bank to complete measures, including recalling capital from and selling some small shareholdings in certain subsidiaries, to restore compliance with the limit and raise its bank-solo capital adequacy ratio (CAR) to at the end of Q1 2027, up from 17.4% in Q1 2026.

Access Holdings Plc was worth N1.419 trillion at the close of the trading session on Wednesday, tracking below UBA (N1.851trn), GTCO (N4.9trn), Zenith Bank (N5.010trn) and FirstHoldco (N5.957trn) FirstHoldco, Zenith Bank Drag NGX Index, Investors Lose N516bn