Access Bank (ACCESS) released its 9M 21 unaudited results after the close of the market last Friday (29 October). The group reported impressive Pre-tax profit growth of 15.8% y/y and Net profit growth of 18.9% y/y over 9M 21. However, Pre-tax profit (-11.2% y/y) and Net profit (-16.4% y/y) for Q3 21 standalone declined on a year-on-year basis. Nevertheless, on an annualised basis, the bank's earnings are tracking 21.6% and 16.1% ahead of our and consensus forecasts for 2021F, respectively. 

On balance, earnings were supported by the growth in Net Interest Income, as Interest on investment securities surged. In our view, this is primarily attributable to the bank's expanded investment securities portfolio and increased portfolio yield, owing to its above-market yielding swap bills with the CBN. We expect a neutral-to-positive reaction to the results. The stock rose 0.6% in the last trading session and is up 12.4% y-t-d.

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