UBA records double-digit growth, declares N0.20k interim dividend

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has announced its audited financial results for the half year ended June 30, 2022, recording double-digit growth across key income lines as well as significant progress in contributions from its subsidiaries.

At the end of the first two quarters of the year, the bank delivered a 12.6 per cent appreciation in profit before tax (PBT) to N85.7 billion, up from N76.2 billion recorded in the same period of 2021.

Despite the challenging environment, the tier 1 lender delivered impressive numbers, with gross earnings hitting N372.4 billion, a 17.8 per cent growth when compared with N316 billion that was posted in the same period in the prior year.

Operating income also grew by 20.1 per cent to N256 billion in the period, while its profit after tax (PAT) closed the first half stronger at N70.3 billion, up by 16.1 per cent compared to N60.6 billion posted same period in 2021.

A further breakdown of the bank’s half-year result, which was filed with the Nigerian Exchange Group(NGX), yesterday, showed that total assets continued on an upward trajectory, increasing 5.4 per cent to about N9 trillion.

The bank delivered on its core mandate of extending loans to credit-worthy customers, with loans and advances increasing by four per cent to N3 trillion, while deposits rose by 7.9 per cent to N7.6 trillion at the end of the period.

Shareholders’ funds, however, declined marginally by 2 percent to N788.5 billion, owing mainly to the decline in its foreign operations translation reserve as well as fair value losses suffered from the investment securities valuation occasioned by the increasing interest rate regime across the globe.

With the strong double-digit growth in PAT vis-a-vis the marginal decline in shareholder’s fund, the Group’s return on equity (RoE) closed the period stronger at 17.7 per cent while return on assets (RoA) came to 1.6 per cent, up by nine basis points.

Reaffirming its commitment to shareholders and the investing public, the board declared an interim dividend of 20 kobo per share for every ordinary share of N0.50 each held by its shareholders.

The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, said the stellar performance was in line with management’s expectations, adding that the bank’s continued focus on its customer-first philosophy to pursue the mission of providing superior value to our stakeholders had increased low-cost customer deposits, and boosted the growth of its payment and transaction banking.

“The financial year 2022 showed initial signs of recovery of economies across the globe, despite continued COVID-induced supply-chain disruptions. However, geopolitical challenges including the Russia and Ukraine conflict resulted in the escalation of global commodity prices, particularly that of grains and crude oil, which have taken a toll on several economies. Notwithstanding these developments, our half-year numbers came out stronger than the previous year, with top and bottom-line reaching new record highs,” Alawuba said.

According to him, The Group’s profitability increased by 12.6% to N85.7 billion, with double-digit growth recorded across key income lines. The Bank also recorded a decent 20% growth in net interest income as it continues to moderate the cost of funds whilst improving yield on assets, thereby contributing to the strong 20% growth in operating income. “Our investments in state-of-the-art technology have continued to yield expected results and this is evident in the huge boost of our digital banking income, which grew 22.7% year-on-year to N36.3 billion. These gains have enabled us optimise net earnings amid the accelerating inflationary pressure, currency devaluation, and increased regulatory-driven costs,” he said.

Alawuba also noted that he is delighted at the strides made by the Bank in growing its market share across Africa. In his words, “Our retail business has continued to grow as we ride on our agency banking network, trusted brand, competitive product offerings and quality service delivery, to deepen our retail penetration,”

He also commented on his recent appointment as Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, alongside five other Group Executive Directors and assured the investing public of his relentless commitment to the growth of the business. “Together, with our highly motivated workforce, we are poised to usher the business into a new era of growth that will deliver superior value to all stakeholders,” he said.

UBA is a leading pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than thirty-seven million customers across 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries.

With presence in New York, London and Paris and now the UAE, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail, commercial and corporate banking, innovative cross-border payments and remittances, trade finance and ancillary banking services.