Company’s total comprehensive income improved to $188.75 million

Jamaica-based micro financier, Access Financial Services Limited is reporting a bumper half yearly position in which profit for the period jumped to $179.61 million, a 192 per cent increase relative to the $61.55 million recorded for the comparable period in 2020.

During the six months ended September 30, 2021, the company’s total comprehensive income improved to $188.75 million from $116.45 million booked for same time last year. Access Financial Services reported profit before taxation of $240.70 million for the period relative to $82.36 million recorded in 2020.

Following a taxation amount of $61.10 million, the company booked a profit for the period of $179.61 million. Access Financial reported $808.18 million in total interest income, an eight per cent increase relative to the $747.42 million recorded in 2020.

Of this amount, interest income from loans amounted to $807.50 million coming from $742.99 million in 2020, while interest income from securities totalled $681,000. Total interest income for the quarter closed at $418.94 million, up 13 per cent compared to the $370.71 million reported for the second quarter of 2020.

Interest expenses register a marked decline

Interest expense for the period amounted to $112.93 million, a 17 per cent decrease compared to the $135.58 million booked in 2020. This resulted in the company having a net interest income of $695.25 million for the period, 14 per cent more than the $611.83 million in 2020.

Net fees and commission income for the period under review totalled $197.19 million, a seven per cent drop from the $212.42 million in 2020. As a result, Access Financial Services earned $892.44 million in net trading income, representing an eight per cent increase from the $824.25 million booked for the comparable period in 2020.

Net trading income for the quarter improved 13 per cent to close at $468.63 million (2020: $413.72 million). The company earned income from money services fees and commission of $520,000 (2020: $340,000) and other income of $76.09 million.

Foreign exchange gain of $1.86 million was reported relative to a loss of $12.36 million booked same time last year. As such, other operating income for the period totalled $78.47 million compared with $63.21 million recorded in 2020.

Commenting on the positive financial out-turn, the management reports that, “these results reflect an improvement in the operating environment as economic activity continue to increase following the relaxation of the COVID-19 containment measures”.

Access Financial Services reported a nine per cent increase in operating expenses for the period of $970.90 million (2020: $887.46 million). Of this:

·      Staff costs totalled $344.44 million (2020: $347.64 million).

·      Allowance for credit losses amounted to $121.28 million (2020: $178.32 million).

·      Depreciation & amortization amounted to $30.96 million (2020: $59.38 million).

·      Marketing expenses totalled $16.61 million (2020: $22.10 million)
Other operating expenses fell five per cent to $186.91 million (2020: $197.66 million).

As at September 30, 2021, the company’s assets totalled $5.68 billion, up four per cent from $5.47 billion in 2020. The improvement in the asset based was due to a 13 per cent increase in ‘Loans and Advances’, which amounted to $4.38 billion relative to $3.89 billion recorded in 2020.

The overall movement however tempered by a decline in ‘Cash and Cash Equivalents’ which declined 42 per cent to $397.28 million compared to $683.10 million in 2020.