UBA Beats Expectations, Rakes In N62bn Profit In Nine Months

The feat signifies an extraordinary 18.2 per cent annualized return on average equity as the bank recording an appreciable growth in both funding and fee income lines.

With almost 700 business offices and a robust internet and mobile banking platform, UBA has emerged as a pan-African provider of banking and other financial services, to some 11 million customers globally, through one of the most diverse service channels in sub-Sahara Africa.

“I am pleased with our performance in the first nine months of the year. Notwithstanding the negative economic growth in Nigeria, we maintained growth in earnings and sustained our asset quality. Increasingly, we are leveraging our unique pan-African platform to drive new customer acquisition and grow market share across our African subsidiaries” said Kennedy Uzoka, Group Managing Director and CEO of UBA Plc.

The bank had a moderate level of impairment in its overall loan book with a Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio of 2.5% and 0.9%, the cost of risk remain one of the best in the industry.

UBA Plc’s third quarter results also show significant efficiency gains with appreciable growth in operating income by 11% to N183 billion while profit after tax rose by 8% to N52 billion within the period.

Despite the depreciation in the value of the naira, UBA also recorded a significant 21% year-to-date growth in deposits and a similar 26% growth in total assets. The bank also ensured that cost-to-income ratio remained flat year-on-year at 65% despite external cost pressures which masked the positive results of its cost efficiency initiatives.

“The growth in deposits and total assets reflects the Bank’s increased share of customers’ wallet and deepening banking penetration across all its chosen markets in Nigeria and Africa which again accounted for a third of the Group’s earnings,” Group CFO, Ugo Nwaghodoh, said on the results.

Well ahead of regulatory requirement, UBA maintained a 43% liquidity ratio and 17.6% BASEL II capital adequacy ratio with Nwaghodoh further assuring that the bank will continue to balance its appetite for growth and profitability with the strategy of sustaining strong liquidity and capital ratios

Founded from a single country operation in 1949, the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc is a leading financial services group in sub-Saharan Africa with presence in 19 African countries, as well as the United Kingdom, the United States of America and France.