Access Bank Plc ₦15 Billion 5 Year Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Green Bond Due 2024 2020 Final Rating Report
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Access Bank Plc ₦15 billion 5 Year Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Green Bond Due 2024 2020 Final Rating Report 2020 Bond Rating Access Bank Plc. ₦15 billion 5-Year Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Green Bond Access Bank Plc ₦15 Billion Five Year Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Green Bond Due 2024 ATING ATIONALE Rating Assigned: R R Agusto & Co hereby affirms the ‘Aa-’ rating of Access Bank Plc’s (“Access -Aa- Bank”, “the Bank” or “the Issuer”) ₦15 billion Five Year Fixed Rate Unsecured Green Bond Due 2024 (“the Bond” or “the Issue”). PricewaterhouseCoopers, a certified green bond verifier, has assessed the conformity of nominated Outlook: Stable projects with the pre-issuance requirements of the Climate Bond Standard Issue Date: 14 Feb 2019 (version 2.1) issued by the Climate Bond Initiative in 2017. Expiry Date: 31 Dec 2020 The rating is valid throughout the life of the The rating reflects the standalone ‘Aa-‘ credit rating of Access Bank Plc by instrument but will be subject to annual monitoring and review. Agusto & Co. Limited and the pari passu ranking of the Bond with other senior unsecured obligations of the Bank. Access Bank’s rating is Bond Tenor: Five years underpinned by its strong industry position following its merger with the erstwhile Diamond Bank Plc which was concluded in March 2019. The Issuer Industry: Banking has a good brand franchise, an experienced management team and adequate capitalisation levels. Offsetting these positive rating factors are a deterioration in the asset quality of the combined entity and sectoral Analysts: concentration in the loan book. The fragile Nigerian macroeconomic Ada Ufomadu environment is also a threat to the banking industry’s asset quality. [email protected] Access Bank Plc’s total assets and contingents amounted to ₦6.2 trillion as at 30 June 2019, a 43.1% growth over FYE2018 on account of the business Ayokunle Olubunmi, CFA combination with Diamond Bank Plc. Thus, the Issuer became the largest [email protected] bank in Nigeria by total assets as at H1, 2019. The loan book also rose by 34.6% to ₦2.5 trillion; however, asset quality deteriorated markedly post- merger as evidenced by a non-performing loans (NPL) ratio of 7.3% (FYE2018: 2.4%). In addition, obligor and sectoral concentration worsened Agusto & Co. Limited during the period. Concerted efforts by the Bank’s management to clean up UBA House (5th Floor) the loan book through various loan work out strategies are ongoing and are 57, Marina expected to reduce the NPL ratio below the regulatory threshold of 5% by Lagos FYE2020. Nigeria A major synergy derived from the combined entity was a 78.5% growth in www.agusto.com customer deposits to ₦3.7 trillion as at 30 June 2019, comprising a 100.4% spike in low cost current and savings local currency (LCY) deposits. Given an The copyright of this document is reserved by Agusto & Co. Limited. No matter contained herein may be reproduced, duplicated or copied by any means whatsoever without the prior written consent of Agusto & Co. Limited. Action will be taken against companies or individuals who ignore this warning. The information contained in this document has been obtained from published financial statements and other sources which we consider to be reliable but do not guarantee as such. The opinions expressed in this document do not represent investment or other advice and should therefore not be construed as such. The circulation of this document is restricted to whom it has been addressed. Any unauthorized disclosure or use of the information contained herein is prohibited. 2020 Bond Credit Rating Access Bank Plc. ₦15 billion 5-Year Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Green Bond improved deposit mix, the Issuer’s weighted average cost of funding moderated to 4.8% from 5.9% in the 2018 financial year. In view of the lower interest rate environment elicited by CBN’s heterodox policies in the fixed income market, we foresee a further decline in the Bank’s funding costs in the short term. Access Bank’s liquidity profile strengthened in the first half of 2019, as liquid assets more than doubled to ₦2 trillion and represented 71.1% of total local currency deposits as at 30 June 2019. The Issuer’s large liquid asset portfolio provides liquidity should the need arise and benefits from favourable yields in the Open Market Operations (OMO) market. Access Bank’s performance improved significantly during the period on account of an expanded balance sheet. Driven by a larger loan book and investment portfolio, and a lower interest rate environment, Access Bank’s net interest spread (NIS) improved to 54.4% in the first half of 2019 (H1, 2018: 40.9%). Non-interest income also supported the Bank’s earnings through an expanded customer base, fees & commissions on various transactions and gains on investment securities. In H1, 2019, operating expenses rose by 33.4% to ₦106.8 billion driven by a 513.3% spike in professional fees linked to the merger process, a 49% growth in NDIC charges and a 29.4% increase in AMCON costs. Notwithstanding, the Issuer’s cost to income ratio (CIR) moderated to 64.8% (H1, 2018: 71.3%). Backing out the one-off professional fees from operating expenses, Access Bank’s CIR stood at 62.3%. Overall, Access Bank’s pre-tax return of assets (ROA) and pre-tax return of average equity (ROE) strengthened to 2.2% (H1, 2018: 1.7%) and 23.8% (H1, 2018: 14.7%) respectively in the first half of 2019. Access Bank’s capitalisation though pressured by write-offs of delinquent loans inherited from the business combination remains just adequate for current business risks. The Bank raised Tier 2 capital of $162.5 million from a syndication of financial institutions post-merger which moderated the impact of the write-offs on capitalisation ratios. A ₦30 billion subordinated bond was also issued in April 2019. Thus, the Issuer’s capital adequacy ratio (IFRS 9 full-impact), in line with Basel II accords stood at 16.55% as at 30 June 2019. However, considering the CBN transitional arrangement, the Bank’s CAR of 21.08% (FYE2018: 17.22%) was well above the regulatory minimum of 15% for commercial banks with international operating licenses. Based on the foregoing, we hereby assign a stable outlook to the ₦15 Billion Five Year Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Green Bond Due 2024 with our expectation that the Issuer’s risk profile will be upheld by its good financial 2 2020 Bond Credit Rating Access Bank Plc. ₦15 billion 5-Year Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Green Bond condition and strong capacity to meet its obligations as and when they fall due. Strengths •Strong industry position •Good profitability •Good brand franchise •Experienced and stable management team Weaknesses •Obligor and sectorial concentration in the loan book •NPL ratio above the regulatory threshold Challenges •Optimising synergies from the merger with the defunct Diamond Bank Plc •Curbing operational inefficiencies associated with a larger combined entity •The regulatory environment and its impact on the banking industry's performance Table 1: Background Information December 2017 December 2018 June 2019 (Audited) (Audited) (Audited) Total Assets & Contingents ₦3.8 trillion ₦4.3 trillion ₦6.2 trillion Net Earnings ₦225.9 billion ₦231.1 billion ₦164.8 billion Return on Average Assets & Contingents 1.8% 1.9% *2.2% (ROA) Return on Average Equity (ROE) 15.3% 17.2% *23.8% *annualised 3 2020 Bond Credit Rating Access Bank Plc. ₦15 billion 5-Year Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Green Bond PROFILE Access Bank Plc (“Access Bank” or “the Bank” or “the Issuer”) was incorporated in February 1989 as a private limited liability company and commenced operations in May 1989. The Bank converted to a public limited liability company in March 1998 and subsequently listed its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in the same year. In February 2001, Access Bank was granted a universal banking license by the Central Bank of Nigeria. In 2002, the Bank embarked on a growth strategy with a view to emerge as one of Nigeria’s leading financial institutions. This growth strategy led to an aggressive capital raising exercise which commenced with a successful public offer, generating about ₦14.5 billion in 2004, an Over-The-Counter Global Depository Receipts (GDR) placement of US$250 million in July 2007 and a third public offer of about US$1billion. In October 2011, the Issuer acquired a 75% equity stake in Intercontinental Bank and merged the two institutions in January 2012. Access Bank successfully raised a $350million five-year Eurobond in 2012 and a second $400 million 7-yr Eurobond in June 2014. An additional $300 million was raised in October 2016 to repay the earlier maturing Eurobond and support asset creation. The Bank has also successfully raised funding via various avenues including a rights issue in 2015 and a Climate Bonds Certified Green Bond in 2019. Subsequent to the financial year-end 2018 and in line with the Bank’s vision to become the largest banking group in Nigeria, the Issuer merged with the erstwhile Diamond Bank Plc and the business combination was officially concluded in March 2019. Thus, Access Bank’s business footprints expanded to 541 branches and 72 cash centres, 2,930 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and over 29 million customers as at 30 June 2019. Access Bank also has a total of 94 branches and service outlets in other African countries and Europe – Ghana (53 branches), Rwanda (8 branches), Zambia (9 branches), Gambia (6 branches), Democratic Republic of Congo (11 branches), Sierra Leone (4 branches) and the United Kingdom (3 branches).