Unity Bank posts 43% profit in Q1

Unity Bank Plc, Nigeria’s foremost agriculture lender, has sustained the growth momentum demonstrated in its 2020 full year earnings as it recorded an impressive performance of 43 per cent in both profit before and after tax in Q1 2021.

In the Bank’s unaudited Q1 results submitted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Friday, the retail lender profit before tax (PBT) grew by 43 per cent to N784.3million from N550.1 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2020.

The profit after tax (PAT) for the period, which also grew by 43 per cent stood at N721.5million compared to the N506.1million recorded in Q1 2020.

As an outcome of increased focus on supporting local enterprises and industry, the asset portfolio also showed significant growth in loan book of 76 per cent as net loans and advances to customers increased to N223.2 billion, from N126.6 billion recorded in the corresponding period.

The total assets of the bank for the period showed an appreciable growth of 42 per cent to close at N521.5 billion, from N366.8 billion in the corresponding period of 2020.

The balance sheet of the bank had been considerably de-risked with the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of near-zero per cent, which it has consistently maintained over time. With this, the bank ranks number one in risk management assessment.

The bank recorded gross earnings of N11.5 billion, representing a marginal decline of three per cent when compared to N11.9billion posted in the corresponding period of 2020.

The remarkable positive growth in profit and other strong indicators recorded in Q1 is a sign of the bank’s growing resilience as the economy continues on a recovery path following the impacts of COVID-19 pandemics.

Managing Director/CEO, Unity Bank Plc, Mrs. Tomi Somefun, said the result is a promising indication of a better outcome for the year, profoundly reflecting the bank’s renewed focus on driving efficiency and productivity anchored on targeted initiatives to grow both volume and quality of assets.

The top-line performance was driven by improvement in net interest income margins which reported 16 per cent growth. To this, Mrs. Somefun stated the banks is replicating the same momentum in the area of liability generation and to gain traction, “we are targeting opportunities across regions and identified segments in retail and SMEs whilst optimising our technology and digital platforms such as Omni-channel UniFi, USSD *7799# to deliver bundled product bouquet, operational efficiency and improved unparalleled customer service delivery. Like the multi-language service channels, customers are to expect more innovations as the year unfolds”.