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Tag: Access Bank

  • Lagos marathon: Action Aid partners Access Bank to race against poverty

    Lagos marathon: Action Aid partners Access Bank to race against poverty

  • #RunLagos: How to run marathon

    #RunLagos: How to run marathon

    As Lagosians prepares for the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon here are some helpful tips suggested by Douglas Scott, contributing editor for Runners World.

     Run a Dress Rehearsal

    Four or five days before the marathon, do a two- or three-mile marathon-pace run in your marathon outfit and shoes. Picture yourself on the course running strong and relaxed. Besides boosting your confidence, this run will provide one last little bit of conditioning and will help you lock in to race pace on marathon day.

                

     Don’t eat Fat-Load

    “During the last three days, concentrate on eating carbohydrate-rich foods, such as pasta, potatoes, bread, fruit and fruit juice, and sports drinks,” says Suzanne Girard Eberle. It’s the carbs, after all, not fat or protein that will fuel you on race day. Girard Eberle says what’s important is increasing the percentage of your calories that come from carbs, not simply eating more of everything. Since you’ll be tapering and expending fewer calories,” she says, “you don’t have to consume a great deal more food than usual. Rather, make sure your food choices are carbohydrate-rich—for example, spaghetti with red sauce, instead of Alfredo sauce, or a bagel versus a croissant.”

    Look Down

    Select the shoes–and the socks–you’ll wear in the marathon. The shoes should be relatively lightweight but provide good support, and the socks should be the type you wear in other races. If the shoes aren’t your regular training shoes, wear them on at least one 10-mile run at marathon pace. This test run will determine whether you’re likely to develop blisters or get sore feet–before it’s too late. If the shoes bother you on this run, get yourself another pair.

     

    Warm Up

    But just a little. Even the best marathoners in the world do only a little jogging beforehand, because they want to preserve their glycogen stores and keep their core body temperature down. If you’re a faster runner with a goal pace significantly quicker than your training pace, do no more than 10 minutes of light jogging, finishing 15 minutes before the start. Precede and follow your jog with stretching. If you’ll be running the marathon at about your training pace, skip the jog. Walk around a bit in the half hour before the start, and stretch (see below).

    Drink on the Run

    “Practice during your remaining long and semi long runs with the sports drink and energy gels you intend to refuel with during the race,” “Serious-minded racers and those with finicky stomachs should be using the sports drink that will be available on the race course. And remember that sports drinks do triple duty when compared with water by providing fluid, carbohydrates, and electrolytes, the most important being sodium.” Find out how often your marathon will have aid stations, and practice drinking at that rate. If you don’t run with fluids, place bottles along your training route.

    http://www.runnersworld.com/

     

  • ACCESS BANK LAGOS CITY MARATHON: More over 50s register for 2017 edition

    ACCESS BANK LAGOS CITY MARATHON: More over 50s register for 2017 edition

    Probably buoyed by the success of sexagenarian Abiola Oshodi-Adeniyibada and Seni Ogunlende who competed in the 2016 edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, more members of the over 50 club are showing interest in the 2017 edition of the race.
    Since registration began in November last year, there has been an increase in the number of men and women over age 50 coming to pick entry forms at the Teslim Balogun Stadium office of Access Bank Lagos City Marathon.
    While 68-year-old Oshodi-Adeniyibada is yet to pick entry form for the 2017 race, 64-year-old Ogunlende was one of the sexagenarians at the marathon office on Monday to collect entry form.
    Ogunlende was warmly received at the Marathon Office by the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon General Manager, Yussuf Alli, and Head of Communications and Media, Olukayode Thomas.
    Alli, a former international long jumper, expressed his joy at the increase in the high number of older men and women embracing the culture of running.
    He said it was a global phenomenon, adding that between 1991 and 2011, 518,000 finished the New York Marathon and about 18% are members of the over 50 club.
    Alli urged more and more Nigerians, especially those over 50 years to show more interest in walking, jogging, exercise and running as it an anti-aging antidote.
    “Medical research have proved that exercise by men and women in their 40s, 50s and above counteract the effects of aging.’’
    Alli revealed that running benefits include calorie burn, improved cardio, muscle strength, stress relief, and the prevention of some types of cancers.
    “Old age comes with certain conditions and diseases, so finding ways to improve your health become more important as you grow older. For example there are simple daily exercises that help over 50 controls their weight, strengthen your heart muscle, lower blood pressure, and help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

  • GTB, Access Bank, Zenith Bank’s directors meet over dividend payment

    The boards of directors of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc, Access Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc have scheduled meetings later this month to approve the audited financial statement and accounts of the banks for the year ended December 31, 2016. The meetings will among others consider final dividend recommendation to be made to shareholders.

    In separate regulatory filing, the three banks indicated that their directors would be meeting to review and approve the earnings report and accounts for the 2016 business year, preparatory to sending the accounts for the clearance of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) before release to the investing public at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    Under the enhanced listing rules at the NSE which took off on January 1, 2017, quoted companies are expected to submit their annual audited account to the Exchange not later than 90 calendar days after the relevant year end, and published same in at least two national daily newspapers not later than 21 calendar days before the date of the annual general meeting. They are also required to post same on their websites with the web address disclosed in the newspaper publications. Also, an electronic copy of the publication shall be filed with the Exchange on the same day as the publication.

    The three leading banks had paid interim dividend of 25 kobo to shareholders based on their half-year results. The share prices of the three banks rose at the weekend at the NSE as expectant investors sought to take positions ahead of the meetings and announcement of the final dividends by the banks. GTB’s share price rose by 7.0 kobo to close weekend at N23.54. Access Bank added 14 kobo to close at N6.28 per share while Zenith Bank’s share price rose by 27 kobo to N14.77 per share.

    Key extracts of the interim report and accounts of GTB for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016 had shown that gross earnings rose by 43.6 per cent to N329.28 billion by September 2016 as against N229.37 billion in comparable period of 2015. Operating income rose by 59.3 per cent from N174.42 billion to N277.85 billion. Profit before tax grew by 53 per cent to N140.84 billion as against N92.06 billion while profit after rose by 59.6 per cent from N75.16 billion in September 2015 to N119.93 billion in September 2016. Earnings per share closed September 2016 at N4.24 as against N2.65 in September 2015.

    Also, key extracts of the nine-month report of Access Bank for the period ended September 30, 2016 released at the weekend showed that profit before tax rose by 19 per cent to N72 billion in third quarter 2016 as against N60.4 billion in comparable period of 2015. Also, net profit after tax rose by the same margin from N48.1 billion in third quarter 2015 to N57.1 billion in third quarter 2016. Gross earnings had risen from N257.6 billion to N274.5 billion. The growth in gross earnings was driven by 17 per cent increase in interest income on the back of continued growth in the Bank’s core business. Operating income rose to N199.3 billion in third quarter 2016 as against N178.1 billion in corresponding period of 2015.

    Access Bank also improved on the supporting balance sheet for its business. Customer deposits also grew by 25 per cent to N2.1 trillion by September 2016 as against N1.68 trillion recorded at the beginning of the year. The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of the bank stood at 19 per cent as at September 2016, well above the regulatory minimum. The bank’s asset quality ratios remained well above the regulatory benchmark of 5.0 per cent as the percentage of Non-Performing Loans (NPL) to total gross loans stood at 2.1 per cent. The NPL coverage ratio also remained strong at 209.5 per cent.

  • Access Bank’s Herbert Wigwe is magazine’s Man of the Year

    Access Bank’s Herbert Wigwe is magazine’s Man of the Year

    The Top10 Magazine has named Herbert Wigwe, managing director, Access Bank Nigeria Plc as its Man of the Year 2016.

    The editorial board of the magazine stated that the selection of Wigwe as Man of the Year 2016 was in recognition of the sterling performance of the bank under Wigwe since he assumed the leadership of the bank, citing the bank’s local and international awards.

    The magazine stated that the official investiture of Wigwe will come up some time in February 2017 at an evening with Nigerian banking legends, an event that will bring together legends of Nigerian banking, their families, associates, chief executives and captains of industries among others. It stated that Wigwe’s official investiture will be the highlight of the event.

    The magazine has also released the list of its Top 10 living legends of Nigerian banking evolution. The list is contained in the latest edition of the magazine which is dedicated to the ten leading personalities that shaped the evolution of Nigerian banking.

    The list included Otumba Subomi Balogun, founder of FCMB group, Jim Ovia, chairman of Zenith bank, Tony Elumelu, chairman of UBA, Fola Adeola, co-founder of GTbank and Pascal Dozie, founder of Diamond bank. Others are Atedo Peterside, chairman of IBTC holdings, Chukwuma Soludo and Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former CBN Governors, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, former managing director of Access bank and Adesola Akinfemiwa, former managing director of Skye bank.

    “Our objective is to identify and celebrate the 10 leading personalities that shaped Nigerian banking evolution and our main criterion for selection is traceable and subsisting legacies of the personalities; those that were able to leave indelible legacies that outlived the various transformation stages of the Nigerian banking sector,” the magazine stated.

    According to the publication, going through the top 10 list, each of the personalities has his legacy very much alive in today’s banking industry in Nigeria in spite of the many transformation stages the industry went through.

  • Access Bank donates to Society for the Blind

    Access Bank donates to Society for the Blind

    Access Bank Plc has through its Centralised Operations Group donated learning aids to the Federal Nigerian Society for the Blind.

    Specifically, the Centralised Operations Group partnered with The Federal Nigerian Society for the Blind (FNSB) in several areas of impact and initiative including seminar on empowerment of Visually Impaired Persons (VIPs), mentorship as well as interactive/bonding session between the bank’s staff and VIPs.

    The group also provided support in the conversion of texts books to braille, conversion of text books to audio/talking books and constructed a 40-room hostel for the students

    The group aimed at providing the school the opportunity to admit more VIPs through the provision of more hostel rooms/accommodation, which would enable more VIPs to have access to learning aid that would make them more resourceful, independent and useful for themselves and the society.

    The 40-room hostel was officially commissioned recently at the Federal Nigerian Society for the Blind, Oshodi, Lagos.

    The Deputy Group Managing Director, Access Bank, Obinna Nwosu led senior management of the bank to the commissioning of the hostel. He praised the Centralised Operations group for the initiative, noting that The Access Bank CSR initiative was developed in accordance to relevant international standards and guidelines.

    According to him, “The Bank’s CSR report focuses on the Group’s approach to sustainability with respect to specific environmental and social issues that were of interest to all our stakeholder groups.”

  • ‘How brand strategy is working for Access Bank’

    Despite the economic headwinds that have been slowing down most financial institutions in the country, the Access Bank Plc has had a very successful outing in the outgone year.

    The Bank which entered the nation’s banking landscape about 26 years ago with the ambition of becoming a solid brand that would command respect in many sectors, has since grown from that humble beginning into banking giant with reputation admirable reputation that transcends the local market.

    Thus today, the bank offer a full service commercial banking, operating through a network of about 305 branches and service outlets located in major centres across Nigeria, Sub Saharan Africa and the United Kingdom. The great work that has gone into building the bank into a formidable banking brand, beyond just a cool logo or well-placed advertisement, but in terms of the cutting edge strategy and precision-driven is not lost on industry watchers and has been fetching recognitions in various forms.

    For those who have watched the progress recorded by the Bank thus far, strategic branding has made the difference. Little wonder that few weeks ago, the innovation and creative ingenuity of its handlers paid off as it was named ‘Bank of the Year’ at the 17th annual Bank of the Year Awards black-tie dinner in London. To analysts, the feat was not by accident, considering various positioning tools deplored by the bank’s promoters in the last 10 years.

    The award, which validates other nine international honors earned by the Bank over the past ten months for operational excellence, responsible business practices and technology-backed innovation, is unarguably one of the most coveted awards in the banking sector globally.

    Over the years, Access Bank has established a reputation as one of the most formidable financial institutions in Nigeria. This is unconnected with its impressive growth trajectory and contributions to the development of the Nigerian economy through empowerment initiatives and practical SME schemes.  As an acclaimed innovative industry pioneer, the Bank has remained the choice of international financial organisations and multilateral agencies seeking partnership in Nigeria.

    The Banker Awards is an annual event of The Banker Magazine, a publication of the highly influential Financial Times of London; arguably the world’s leading monthly journal of records for the global banking industry, with expertise in monitoring and publishing developments in the African banking industry and beyond for more than 90 years. It is a mark of the award’s reputation that it was held in London, arguably the financial capital of the world.

    For some of its pioneering initiatives and outstanding performances, the bank has earned a number of recognitions in the past months. The recognitions include the ‘Karlsrushe Outstanding Business Sustainability Award’, ‘BusinessDay Banking Award – CEO of the Year’, ‘BusinessDay Banking Award – Best Bank of the Year’, ‘EMEA Finance Best Bank in Nigeria Award’, ‘EMEA Finance Corporate Responsibility Award (Pan-African)’, ‘EMEA Finance CEO of the Year (Pan-African’ and World Finance Most Sustainable Bank of the Year Award.’

    Presenting the award, Michael Buerk, BBC News journalist, commented: “In spite of the challenging operating environment and rapid changes in the industry, Access Bank has remained a formidable institution.  Specifically, the Bank has been a purveyor of innovation in the Nigerian banking space and consistently outperformed industry forecast.  It is firmly believed that its operational model, risk management and governance framework, which enable sustained superlative financial performance need commendation.”

    Although this view is consistent with Analysts’ opinion on the Bank in the past one year, but its Group Managing Director, Herbert Wigwe who received the award for the Bank said, “While innovation, excellent risk and corporate governance framework might be the advantage we have over our competitors, the Bank is propelled by a vision of becoming the world’s most respected African Bank, and this requires us to do things differently to standout. He thanked the bank’s stakeholders for their support and assured them of improved performance in the years ahead.”

    Few months ago, Access Bank broke a new ground in innovation by introducing PayWithCapture, a mobile payment solution that permits customers to make payments by scanning a merchant’s pre-generated QR-Code using the camera of their mobile device or via a one-step Beacon-NFC System. This is happening at a time a consortium of six banks and Unified Payments inaugurated PayAttitude, an electronic payment scheme that allows transactions in both online and offline platforms. The two products, though share some features, they are different in many areas. The bottom-line however is that both are introduced to create a hitch free transaction for consumers.

    Two weeks ago, the bank launched the country’s first corporate-focused internet banking solution – “Primus” – to ease the complexities of daily supply chain and financial management of blue chip companies.

    The multi-transaction management software dubbed “a 21st century-game changer,” is one of the 200 initiatives announced by the Bank in July after the presentation of its 5-year strategy for 2013 to 2017.

    According to Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Access Bank, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, the product “does not exist in the Nigerian banking industry” and “will make every bank in Nigeria to rise to the occasion.”

    The role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to the overall success of any business has been well documented just as the importance of good corporate citizenship to bottomline has been well articulated in different business models. Little wonder that many businesses across different sectors now take CSR very serious.

    According to the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility Report, its CSR philosophy was developed in accordance to relevant international standards and guidelines such as the AA1000 Assurance standards and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 sustainability reporting guidelines.

    The Access Bank Innovation Challenge is a competition that invites teams of contestants to develop innovative solutions challenges noticeable challenges in the country, and provides them with   educational   guidance   along   the   path   to   prototyping   and   possibly   implementing   their projects.

    The 2016 Access Bank Innovation Challenge focused on the Internet of Things (IoT), which connects billions of smart devices to the Internet.

    A total of 15 teams formed by the 76 attendees worked on solutions to problems in Agriculture, Transportation, Security, and Power.  The N1 prize money was shared amongst the top 3 winners. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners received the sum of N500,000, N300,000 and N200,000 respectively.

    Victor Etuokwu, executive director, Personal Banking, Access Bank Plc, who addressed participants during the training workshops said one of the Bank’s core values is ‘Innovation’ and this is visibly rooted in the culture and attitude of the employees of the Bank.

  • Access Bank leads with ‘Bank of the Year’ award

    Access Bank leads with ‘Bank of the Year’ award

    Access Bank affirmed its leadership of the Nigerian banking industry with its recent recognition as the ‘Bank of the Year’ at the 17th yearly Bank of the Year awards black-tie dinner in London.

    The award, which validates other nine international honors earned by the bank over the past 10  months for operational excellence, responsible business practices and innovation, is unarguably one of the most coveted in the banking sector globally.

    Presenting the award, Michael Buerk, BBC News journalist, commented, “In spite of the challenging operating environment and rapid changes in the industry, Access Bank has remained a formidable institution.  Specifically, the bank has been a purveyor of innovation in the Nigerian banking space and consistently outperformed industry forecast.

    It is firmly believed that its operational model, risk management and governance framework, which enable sustained superlative financial performance need commendation”.

    Although this view is consistent with Analysts’ opinion on the bank in the past one year, but its Group Managing Director, Herbert Wigwe who received the award for the bank said, “While innovation, excellent risk and corporate governance framework might be the advantage we have over our competitors, the bank is propelled by a vision of becoming the world’s most respected African bank, and this requires us to do things differently to standout. He thanked the bank’s stakeholders for their support and assured them of improved performance in the years ahead”.

    Over the years, Access Bank has established a reputation as one of the most formidable financial institutions in Nigeria. This is unconnected with its impressive growth trajectory and contributions to the development of the Nigerian economy through empowerment initiatives and practical SME schemes.  As an acclaimed innovative industry pioneer, the bank has remained the choice of international financial organisations and multilateral agencies seeking partnership in Nigeria.

    For some of its pioneering initiatives and outstanding performance, the bank has earned a number of recognitions in the past months. The recognitions include the ‘Karlsrushe Outstanding Business Sustainability Award’, ‘ BusinessDay Banking Award – CEO of the Year’, ‘BusinessDay Banking Award – Best Bank of the Year’, ‘EMEA Finance Best Bank in Nigeria Award’, ‘EMEA Finance Corporate Responsibility Award (Pan-African)’, ‘EMEA Finance CEO of the Year (Pan-African’ and World Finance Most Sustainable Bank of the Year Award’.

  • Photo: Launch of Malaria to Zero Initiative

    Photo: Launch of Malaria to Zero Initiative

     

    L-R: Managing Director, Huawei Nigeria, Frank Li; Managing Director, Access bank, Herbert Wige; Chief Executive officer, Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria, Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq and Representative of Lagos State, Commissioner of Health, Dr. Eniola Erinosho during the press Conference on Zero Initiative by Access Bank Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PSHN) and Huawei Technology in Lagos. 30-11-2016. PHOTO: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL.
    L-R: Managing Director, Huawei Nigeria, Frank Li; Managing Director, Access bank, Herbert Wige; Chief Executive officer, Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria, Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq and Representative of Lagos State, Commissioner of Health, Dr. Eniola Erinosho during the press Conference on Zero Initiative by Access Bank Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PSHN) and Huawei Technology in Lagos. 30-11-2016. PHOTO: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL.
  • Access Bank records N72b profit in Q3

    Access Bank records N72b profit in Q3

    Access Bank Plc grew pre-tax profit by 19 per cent to N72 billion in the third quarter as the bank sustained a steady overall performance outlook in the first nine months of this year.

    Key extracts of the nine-month report of Access Bank for the period ended September 30, 2016 released at the weekend showed that profit before tax rose by 19 per cent to N72 billion in third quarter 2016 as against N60.4 billion in comparable period of 2015. Also, net profit after tax rose by the same margin from N48.1 billion in third quarter 2015 to N57.1 billion in third quarter 2016. Gross earnings had risen from N257.6 billion to N274.5 billion. The growth in gross earnings was driven by 17per cent increase in interest income on the back of continued growth in the Bank’s core business. Operating income rose to N199.3 billion in third quarter 2016 as against N178.1 billion in corresponding period of 2015.

    Access Bank also improved on the supporting balance sheet for its business. Customer deposits also grew by 25 per cent to N2.1 trillion by September 2016 as against N1.68 trillion recorded at the beginning of the year. The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of the bank stood at 19 per cent as at September 2016, well above the regulatory minimum. The bank’s asset quality ratios remained well above the regulatory benchmark of 5.0 per cent as the percentage of Non-Performing Loans (NPL) to total gross loans stood at 2.1 per cent. The NPL coverage ratio also remained strong at 209.5 per cent.

    Group managing director, Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe said the performance of the bank in the first three quarters of this year had remained strong and consistent.

    He said the results reflected the intrinsic stability of the bank as a business with the capacity to deliver sustainable returns, particularly during a period underlined by significant macro headwinds.

    “Our capital and liquidity position remained adequately above regulatory levels, as we continued to implement a disciplined capital plan, ensuring sufficient levels of profit retention to support our growth. In addition to capital enhancement, the recently concluded $300 million senior unsecured debt issue allows us optimise and enhance our foreign currency funding capacity whilst strengthening our balance sheet,” Wigwe said.

    He assured that the bank remained committed to its cost containment plan, as it strives to balance operational efficiency with earnings growth in a constrained environment.

    “The bank will remain resilient in the achievement of its strategic imperatives; maximizing our strong market position and solid capital base, while leveraging digital innovation to improve service touch-points as we sharpen our retail play with emphasis on cheaper funding sources,” Wigwe assured.