The boards of Access Holdings Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc have approved their audited financial results and proposed dividend payments for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2025.
The announcements were made on Monday through corporate disclosures filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited, signalling a strong close to the financial year for both institutions.
Access Holdings said its Board of Directors met on Friday, 20 February 2026, to consider and approve the Group’s Audited Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements for the 2025 financial year.
In a statement signed by its Company Secretary, Sunday Ekwochi, the group confirmed that the board also approved a proposal for dividend payment, subject to regulatory clearance.
The company noted that both the release of the audited statements and the dividend payment remain subject to approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Similarly, UBA disclosed that its board, at a meeting held on Thursday, 19 February 2026, approved its Group Audited Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025.
The board also greenlighted the payment of a final dividend for the 2025 financial year, pending approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Both banks assured investors that they would notify the market once the apex bank grants its clearance.
The approvals come months after the Central Bank temporarily suspended dividend payments and foreign subsidiary investments by banks with forbearance loan exposures. The move was aimed at strengthening the resilience and stability of the Nigerian banking sector.
The developments also coincide with a critical week for the Nigerian economy, as the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee meets to decide on the benchmark interest rate.
Analysts say policymakers face a difficult decision: whether to retain the current 27.0 per cent policy rate to manage liquidity or implement a 50–100 basis point cut following a reported decline in inflation to 15.1 per cent in January 2026.
Market watchers believe the outcome of the MPC meeting, alongside the pending approval of the proposed dividends, could serve as a major catalyst for movements in the Nigerian stock market in the days ahead.
