UBA posts N490b gross earnings, records 37% profit growth

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has announced impressive performance in its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2021. It recorded growth across all its major indices, replicating the feats of the first two quarters of the current fiscal year.

Specifically, the bank’s gross earnings rose to N490.3 billion, up from N454.4 billion recorded in September 2020, while operating income grew by 13 per cent year-on-year to close at N331.7 billion as at September 2021, up from N293.7 billion achieved a year earlier. 

In the report filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited, yesterday, the financial institution reported a 37 per cent rise in profit before tax (PBT) to close at N123.4 billion compared to the N90.4 billion recorded at the end of the third quarter of 2020, while profit after tax (PAT) rose significantly by 36 per cent to N104.6 billion up from N77.1 billion recorded the preceding year, thus putting its annualised returns on average equity for third quarter of 2021 at 19.2 per cent as against the 16.4 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2020.

The bank maintained its strong balance sheet, with total assets of N8.3 trillion, an eight per cent increase over the N7.7 trillion achieved at the end of December 2020, just as the organisation benefitted largely from its technology-led initiatives targeted at improving customer experience over the past few years, as deposits rose to N6.1 trillion, representing a 7.2 per cent increase from N5.7 trillion at the end of the last financial year.

Shareholders’ funds remain very strong at N798.3 billion up by 10.3 per cent from N724.1 billion recorded in December 2020, thus reflecting a strong capacity for internal capital generation and growth. 

Commenting on the results, the Group Managing Director/CEO, UBA Plc, Kennedy Uzoka, said: “Once again, the bank has shown resilience in delivering on its commitment to shareholders, stakeholders, and the investing public, evident in the strong positive financial metrics recorded in the reporting period.

“Particularly, gross earnings were up by eight per cent to N490.3 billion in the nine-month period, mirroring the improvements seen in both the domestic and international economies, as countries roll out vaccines, helping to return economic activities nearer to pre-pandemic levels.

Similarly, our profit before tax was up by a record 37 per cent to N123.4 billion, with an annualised RoAE of 19.2 per cent, showing our renewed commitment to creating more value for our shareholders.”

The GMD pointed out that UBA’s prudent approach to risk management and the efficacy of its digital-first customer-centric business strategy, helped in keeping loan growth steady at double-digit, while still being able to moderate cost in the period.

He added: “Through the help of our digital-first strategy, we were able to increase the number of our agent network in the period by over 140 per cent, increasing our controlling stake in the market.”

On the expectations for the rest of the year, Uzoka noted: “Looking ahead, we believe our huge investments in digital business following lessons learnt from the pandemic, will continue to pay off in delivering significant growth opportunities across our business operations even as the economy speedily heals from the impact/effect of the pandemic. We will continue to remain a bank holding company, leveraging our robust balance sheet and diverse customer base to deliver (above the expectation of our shareholders) sound rewards to our shareholders.” 

Also throwing more light on the bank’s financial performance and position, the Group CFO, Ugo Nwaghodoh said: “The performance reflects our progressive efforts in building on our robust balance sheet, strong customer base and our people, in delivering impressive earnings.  Particularly, I am pleased at the 90bps improvement in Cost of Funds (CoF) from 3.2 per cent to 2.3 per cent in the period. This was despite the increase in our customer deposits by 7.2 per cent to N6.1 trillion, portraying the bank’s deliberate effort to substitute high-cost funds for low-cost deposits.”

He observed that UBA has continued to optimise its digital banking offerings, which has been paying off hugely as evident in the 50.4 per cent growth to N41.9 billion in income from electronic banking.

“As we continue to pursue a cautious loan growth strategy in 2021, we have strategically maintained strong capital adequacy and liquidity ratios at 23.9 per cent and 43.9 per cent respectively, ensuring adequate buffer to withstand impending shocks and good headroom for growth and the bank will sustain this growth momentum, to ensure we consistently deliver sustainable value to our valued stakeholders,” he explained.