Union Bank announces decline in NPL ratio to 8.1%

•Assures shareholders of long-term value enhancement
Union Bank Plc has announced a decline in its Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio to 8.1 per cent in December 2018, from 20.8 per cent as at December 2017.

In addition, the bank’s Return on Tangible Equity (ROTE) improved to 9.6 per cent from 6.2 per cent in 2017, demonstrating long-term shareholder value enhancement.

Addressing shareholders during the yearly general meeting, in Lagos, on Tuesday, Union Bank Chairman, Cyril Odu, said the lender is well-positioned to take advantage of the emerging opportunities in the economy.

he said: “We have positioned Union Bank to take advantage of the emerging opportunities in the economy and remain optimistic about the future of the Bank. We will execute our 2019-2021 strategic objectives – Sweating our Assets, Digitising our Bank, and Positioning for the Future – towards being Nigeria’s most reliable and trusted banking partner.
“We will focus on embedding disciplined cost management as well as mining synergies across business segments and functions to improve the profitability of our business and deliver value to all our stakeholders – shareholders, customers, business partners’ and employees.”

Odu highlighted some major achievements in 2018 to include: strengthening retail and transaction banking offerings, and the launch of the first Local Letter of Credit to support local trade. There was also the launch of the inaugural N13.5 billion Bond issue, and the adoption of the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology – the first bank to do so in Nigeria.

According to him, highlights of the group’s financial performance in 2018 showed that profit before tax grew by thirty three percent to ₦18.5 billion from ₦13.9 billion in 2017.

Customer deposits also went up by seven per cent to ₦ 857.6 billion compared to ₦802.4 billion in 2017, continuing its upward trajectory since 2016; an indication of consumers’ growing confidence in the brand.

Speaking on the group’s performance for 2018, and plans for 2019, the Chief Executive Officer, Emeka Emuwa said: “Our priorities in 2018 were three pronged; enhancing our productivity across board; tightening up our loan portfolio (especially resolving key large exposures, which drove NPLs up significantly at the end of 2017); and optimising the Bank’s capital and funding base.”

He said the bank made significant strides in each focus area notwithstanding a depressed economic environment and a challenging operating landscape, adding that its efforts to optimise productivity delivered results.

“In 2019, we will double-down on our productivity efforts to deliver our financial targets. We are harnessing synergies across our business segments to ensure we maximise opportunities across entire value chains, while centralising key business and operational functions for better efficiency, and prioritising customer experience across all our touch points.”

“Following the successful execution of the Bank’s debut local currency bond issue to raise N13.5b and the tightening up of its loan portfolio, Union Bank is well positioned to continue executing key business priorities in 2019 and beyond.”