Accion MfB Shareholders Get 75% Increase in Dividend Payout   

Kayode Tokede

Shareholders of Accion Microfinance Bank Ltd (MfB), yesterday approved the management’s 75 per cent increase in dividend payout for the financial year ended December 31, 2022.

The shareholders at the 17^th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos approved the board N0.35kobo per share on the issued and fully paid share capital of 1,207,407,700 ordinary shares of N1 each as against N0.20 per share paid in 2021.

 Despite the harsh macroeconomic conditions, Accion MfB declared N6.96billion gross earnings in 2022, an increase of 25 per cent from N5.55billion reported in 2021.

Profit before tax was N1.55 billion, an increase of 45per cent on the prior year profit of N1.07 billion.

The microfinance bank’s total loan value disbursed increased by 27.8per cent to N36.7billion in 2022 from N29.4billion in 2021, driven by improvement in deposits, both in unique saver count and value.

The deposit value increased from N3.8 billion in 2021 to N4.5 billion in 2022 as total assets increased by three per cent to N15.15 billion in 2022 from N14.72 billion in 2021.

Speaking to shareholders, the new Board Chair, Accion MfB, Mrs. Adenike Laoye, stated that the leading microfinance bank in Nigeria over the years has strived to provide innovative and customer-centric financial solutions that cater to the diverse needs of its customers.

According to her, “We continue to maintain a high level of integrity, professionalism, and transparency in all our dealings. As a result, we have earned the trust and loyalty of our customers. Indeed, this has been the foundation of our success.

“We have also leveraged new technologies, developed new products and services to ensure our core objective of making it easier for the people we serve to access financial support, much faster, and more convenient.”

She noted that the MfB continued with the implementation of its new business model with a focus on improving operational efficiency and increased focus on digital transformation, stating that the old model was designed such that Branches were situated inside markets.

“The new business model is designed to leverage predominantly on the digital maturity of branches, high tech and low touch which will ensure continue operations despite environmental challenges that might occur (for instance, market closures and fire incidents),” she explained.

She said the board and management are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead despite potential headwinds, maintaining that the board is resolute in delivering digital products and services to its customers.

“As we navigate through this challenging economic period, we will continue to deliver on our promise to empower our various customers through both our traditional and digital products and services.

“To achieve this objective, we will focus on deepening financial inclusion by expanding our agency network and ensuring stability on our various digital channels,” Laoye added.

The Managing Director/CEO, Accion MfB,  Mr. Taiwo Joda, said “With the gradual rebound in economic activities both globally and locally, we navigated the challenging economic landscape successfully, identified the inherent opportunities, and implemented strategic initiatives that yielded significant improvements in customer experience, enhanced our growth prospects and delivered market share accretion and profitability during the year resulting in a better outing when compared to 2021.”

On the 2023 outlook, he expressed confidence that the management of Accion MfB is, however, putting everything in place to have a better outing in 2023. 

“We are however putting everything in place to have a better outing in 2023 as we are focused on delivering on our set targets for the year,” he added.