Dear Afrinvestor,

Please find below our Research Note expressing our initial thoughts on the recently released Q3 2012 results by Access Bank Plc.

Access Bank recently made public its Q3 2012 unaudited results on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The results exhibit impressive y-on-y growth in top and bottom line figures; Gross earnings were up 88.0% to N162.7bn from N86.3bn in Q3 2011, while Pre and post tax profits for the period also swelled year-on-year by 117.2% and 156.9% to N39.1bn and N35.1bn from N18.0bn and N13.7bn respectively. The Q3 12 review period has been turbulent for most banks, as interbank volatility exerted significant pressure on interest income.

Based on these results, Access Bank now trades at an average trailing P/E of 5.7x earnings, a significant discount to its peers, trading at an average trailing P/E of 8.0x earnings. The counter also trades at P/BV of 0.9x, versus a peer average trailing P/BV of 1.3x. We therefore maintain our BUY rating on the stock at the current market price..