Despite Economic Crisis, Union Bank Mobilizes N1.13trn From Customers

Notwithstanding the 2020 Covid-19 induced disruption of economic activities, Union Bank Plc said its customer deposits rose 27.6 per cent to N1.131trn in 2020.

The lender disclosed this on Friday in its audited financial report for full year 2020, seen by THE WHISTLER.

“Our customer deposits hit a milestone during the year, crossing the N1tr mark to N1.13trn from N886.3bn in FY 2019, an increase of 27.6 per cent,” said the tier- two lender.

The bank said the N1.131trn recorded as deposits reflects its ability in delivering a compelling range of products to its customers during Covid-19 and increased adoption of digital channels.

Union Bank also disclosed that low cost deposits were up by 17 per cent, constituting 68 per cent of total deposits.

The bank admitted that the low cost funds helped it to reduce cost of fund by 1.4 per cent in 2020.

Apart from the milestone reached on deposits, profit before tax grew 2.8 per cent to N25.4bn from N24.7bn recorded in the 2019 financial year.

With the performance, the bank hinged its success on the growth in its loan book which saw an increase in gross loans by 23.8 per cent to N736.7bn from N595.3bn in 2019.

But the bank’s gross earnings went down 1.9 per cent to N156.9bn from N159.9bn recorded in 2019.

During the period, the lender’s non-performing loans ratio improved by four per cent from 5.8 per cent recorded in 2019.

This was driven by a disciplined recoveries strategy of N7.2bn in 2020, according to the lender.

Union Bank added, “The pandemic accelerated trends in customer behaviour and we have seen rapid increase in digital adoption with a 38 per cent Year on Year increase in active users on our UnionMobile channel with total active users now at 2.9 million.”