Money lender Access Financial Services  has seen its net profit fall by 26 per cent for the six-month period ended September 30, 2022.

Net profit after tax for the period was J$133 million, a decline of 26 per cent when compared to $180 million for the same period in the prior year. This resulted in earning per share (EPS) for the period falling to $0.48 compared to $0.65 for the same period of 2021.

Access posted net operating income of J$1.041 billion for the period under review, an increase on the $971 million posted for the same period in 2021. This spells a seven per cent increase on last year’s figure.

This $70-million uptick was largely driven by an increase in fee and commission income.

Particularly heartening to Access, headed by founder Marcus James, is the growth in its loan book which is now at $4.76 billion, up nine per cent on the corresponding period last year.

However, operating expenses continue to bedevil the company, this time coming in at $830.6 million, a 14 per cent jump on the $730 million posted for the six-month period last year. This was due in the main to rising staff costs ($372 million).

Total assets as at September 30, 2022 was $6.31 billion compared to the prior year’s $5.68 billion.

Access is fighting off an acquisition bid by Dolla Financial, which insists it has the clout to take over its older competitor.

Kadeen Mairs, founder and CEO of Dolla Financial, believes that there are significant synergies that can be realised by a business combination between Dolla and Access, noting that Dolla will benefit from the 10-year tax concessionary regime from being listed on the Junior Market.

“You keep talking about Dolla’s takeover of Access. Didn’t Dolla just list on the junior market a few months ago? Where is it getting the money to acquire Access? Perhaps Access can lend it the money for this fanciful bid,” said and Access Financial operative in response to Our Today‘s queries about a possible takeover.

“It may have escaped your attention that the Bank of Jamaica is cleaning up the micro-lending industry in Jamaica and is insisting on operators having a licence. Access has been awarded a licence by the Central Bank and is valued at $8.5 billion. Was Dolla awarded a licence? You should check that out.”