United Bank for Africa Plc, the pan-African financial services group, has announced earnings of N167 billion mid-year results.
In its audited 2015 half-year financial results just released, the bank showed strong growth in earnings and profits as the bank continues to benefit from its determination to provide value to its large customer base in Nigeria, and from its increasingly important pan-African network, which now contribute over 23 percent of profit.
UBA’s earnings grew strongly from N138.2 billion in the same period of June 2014 to N166.9 billion representing 21 percent rise. The bank’s profit before tax (PBT) also rose 35.1% to N39.0 billion, while profit after tax (PAT) was up a significant 40% to N32 billion within the same period.
As a reward to shareholders, UBA has announced the payment of an interim dividend of 20 kobo per share.
Phillips Oduoza, the group managing director/CEO, said in spite of a challenging operating environment the bank’s business strategy has proved to be resilient.
”We’ve been able to balance prudence with an ability to significantly grow bottom line and continue to focus on operating effectiveness. We look forward to continuing to support our customers and working with them to achieve financial success for them and the wider Nigerian and African economies,” he said.
Further analysis of the half-year results showed significant improvement in operational efficiency.
Its net operating income rose 21 percent to N108.7 billion in June 2015, compared to N90 billion in the comparable period of 2014. The bank has continued to focus on operational efficiency, with a cost to income ratio of 64 percent, as against 68 percent in the same period in 2014.
“We delivered strong growth of 21 percent in gross earnings and 40 percent in profit after tax, reflecting better extraction of value across all business segments and our ongoing process optimization. It was also satisfying to see our cost-to-income ratio decline further. We understand that many in Nigeria are facing difficult economic circumstances and we are very much shouldering our responsibility to support and grow wealth creation,” he enthused.
UBA maintained a healthy loan book; a tribute to both its risk management and to the robustness of its clients’ businesses, with a non-performing ratio at just 1.8 percent of total loans granted, one of the lowest in the banking industry.
On the performance of the bank’s African subsidiaries, the group’s chief financial officer, Ugo Nwaghodoh, said; “Our business in Africa (ex-Nigeria) is beginning to significantly impact our returns, contributing 23 percent of profit after tax, with an even stronger outlook.”
He also disclosed that recent initiatives taken by the bank to improve operational efficiencies are yielding positive results, thus reinforcing our optimism on the future of UBA’s African business.
The UBA group is one of Africa’s leading financial institutions, operating in 19 African countries, as well as New York, London and Paris. The group provides a sophisticated suite of banking services to over 8 million personnel and corporate clients across Africa, priding itself on bringing financial inclusion to the continent and supporting Africa’s next generation of entrepreneurs.
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