Access Holdings Plc (NGX:ACCESSCORP) has said the absence of a dividend payout for the 2025 financial year was linked to regulatory and prudential compliance issues rather than operational weakness, as the group moved to reassure investors following strong earnings growth and balance sheet expansion.
The Nigerian financial holding company provided the clarification during the group’s FY2025 investor and earnings call, where management addressed shareholder concerns over the non-payment of dividends despite robust financial performance, Vanguard reports.
Access Holdings Plc is the parent company of Access Bank Plc and one of Africa’s largest banking groups by assets and geographic footprint. Group managing director and chief executive Innocent Ike said the company remained committed to shareholder returns and had a long history of consistent dividend payments.
“The non payment of dividend for 2025 was not due to earnings weakness or cash flow constraints, but an alignment with regulatory and prudential guidelines,” Ike is quoted by Vanguard as saying.
Access Holdings explained that while interim and final dividends were both recommended during 2025, regulatory approvals were not secured.
According to the company, the earlier constraint related to Section 7.1 of the Central Bank of Nigeria guidelines governing financial holding companies, an issue the group said has since been resolved following completion of an approved private placement.
However, an additional regulatory issue later emerged under Section 19(8)(c) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), which limits the scale of investments in foreign banking subsidiaries relative to shareholders’ funds.
The company said regulators had granted a 12-month remediation window to address the issue.
As part of the process, Access Holdings said it plans partial divestments from certain banking subsidiaries while retaining super-majority ownership positions across the businesses.
Management said the group’s underlying performance in 2025 continued to demonstrate the strength of the franchise and its ability to generate long-term shareholder value.
The statement comes as Nigerian banks continue adjusting capital structures and regional operations in response to tighter prudential standards, recapitalisation requirements and heightened regulatory oversight from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
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