United Bank for Africa Plc on Tuesday posted profit and record revenue that exceeded expectations on the strength of consumer banking operations.
The Pan African financial institution with a network that spans 20 African countries, the United Kingdom, the USA and with presence in Paris, announced impressive performance in its unaudited 2019 Third Quarter Financial Results, with significant growth in Gross Earnings, which rose to N428.22 billion, representing a 14.2 percent increase when compared to N374.8billion recorded in September 2018.
According to the report filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, UBA’s net operating income improved by 11.6 percent year-on-year to N265.99 billion compared to N238.36 billion achieved in the similar period of 2018.
UBA’s Profit Before Tax grew by 24.2% to N98.2billion, up from N79.1billion in the same period of 2018. Similarly, its after tax net profit also grew significantly by 32.3% from N61.69billion recorded in September last year to N81.63billion in the period under consideration. This profit performance puts the Bank’s annualised return on average equity at 20.6%.
Despite the double digit inflation rate in Nigeria(its largest market) coupled with uncertainties in the business environment in Nigeria and in some countries in the rest of Africa, UBA’s curtailed operating expenses only increased by 8.4 percent and this was largely due to regulatory costs.
The Bank continues to maintain a very strong balance sheet, with Total Assets of N4.96 trillion, an increase over the N4.87 trillion recorded in December 2018. Customer Deposits also grew to N3.37trillion. The shareholders’ fund remained very strong at N555.53 billion, rising by 10.5% and reflecting a strong capacity for internal capital generation.
“The resilience of our business model and our focused growth of earning assets have yielded a 10.8% growth in interest income, said Group Managing Director/CEO, UBA Plc, Kennedy Uzoka.
” In addition to the commendable yield on interest earning assets, we also achieved a 22.1% growth in non-interest income, driven largely by the increased penetration of our superior digital banking offerings, credit expansion, remittances and other lifestyle transactional services.”
“UBA remains committed to its vision of becoming the undisputed leading and dominant financial services institution in Africa. We will continue to innovate and lead in all our business segments, whilst delivering top-notch operational efficiencies and best-in-class customer service. We are beginning to realise early gains from our ongoing Transformation Program and I am indeed excited about the days ahead,” Uzoka stated.
Also throwing more light on the bank’s financial performance and position, the Group CFO, Ugo Nwaghodoh said “with the results achieved in the quarter under consideration, the bank remains on track to deliver its earnings target for the year. We were able to grow the loan book by 14.7%, (well ahead of our guidance) focusing on growth poles of various economies in which we operate. We have also developed new credit products targeted at specific consumer and SME market segments, and will continue to do so with strict adherence to best credit/underwriting standards, as we strive to achieve the statutory loan-to-funding ratio threshold set by the apex bank”.
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