Chairman of Access Holdings Plc, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, said the group is entering a new phase of its corporate journey, with focus on creating and delivering value to shareholders after years of expanding its footprint across markets.

Speaking at the post yearly general meeting press briefing held in Lagos yesterday, Aig-Imoukhuede said Access Holdings had largely achieved its ambition of becoming one of the biggest financial institutions to emerge from Nigeria and was now concentrating on translating the scale into sustainable returns for investors.

According to him, the group’s strategy over the past years was centred on building a strong foundation, strengthening its operations and pursuing growth opportunities that would position it to stay ahead of trends in the industry.

“We started with an ambition to create an organisation that is much bigger than any other organisation or financial institution in Nigeria. It has been about building that foundation, reinforcing it continuously while keeping our eyes on that ambition,” he said.

Aig-Imoukhuede assured shareholders that having built a formidable institution with operations across several markets, the company was now moving beyond expansion and acquisitions to focus on extracting greater value from the platform it has established.

He explained that the next stage of growth would be driven by efficiency, optimisation of resources and prudent capital management, all aimed at enhancing shareholder returns.

“As we evolve to this phase in our corporate journey, we are moving beyond scale to focus primarily on extracting, creating and delivering value from the scale we have built. The ultimate beneficiaries of that value are our shareholders,” he stated.

Chairman stressed that the group was no longer solely focused on increasing its size through acquisitions and geographical expansion, but on ensuring that retained capital is deployed efficiently to maximise business performance and profitability.

According to him, the optimisation of capital across the group’s businesses would create surplus capital, which would ultimately be returned to shareholders.

“Today, we are not only talking about acquisitions and expansion. We are talking about ensuring that the capital we retain is able to support our businesses optimally. When we achieve that optimisation, we create surplus capital, and that surplus capital will come back to shareholders,” he said.

On non payment of dividend, he said: “This reflects supervisory expectations across the banking system, particularly in relation to capital adequacy and the maintenance of appropriate buffers in a dynamic operating environment.”

He assured shareholders that the board has engaged with the subsidiary to ensure that it is addressed with urgency and in alignment with regulatory expectations.

Aig-Imoukhuede added that the institution possesses the financial strength, expertise and management capacity required to maximise the opportunities that come with operating at a larger scale than its peers.

“We have completed the scale phase of our evolution and are now focused on the value phase. All our efforts are concentrated on value creation. The difference is that we are driving a much larger vehicle than any other financial institution, and we have the capacity and expertise to drive it successfully,” he added.

He maintained that the group’s future growth strategy would be centred on converting its size, market presence and capital strength into stronger earnings and improved returns for shareholders, marking a significant shift from expansion-led growth to value-driven performance.

Group Managing Director of the bank, Innocent Ike, said the gross earnings remained resilient , supported by a seven per cent in net interest income to N1.36 trillion while profit before tqx rose by 16.2 per cent to N1.007 trillion.

He assured that the group remained focused on disciplined execution, prudent risk management and consistent delivery of its strategies to ensure that the value created through its investments is fully realised.