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UBA profit rises 40% as half year earnings hit N167billion

By on September 5, 2015

Pan-African financial services group, United Bank for Africa Plc, has announced its audited 2015 half year financial results.

The results showed strong growth in earnings and profits, as the Bank continued to benefit from its determination to provide value to its large customer base in Nigeria, its increasingly important pan African network, now contributing to over 23 per cent of profit after tax and its prudent management of costs and risk.

In a time of increased economic challenge, the Bank has continued to extend loans to Nigeria and to support domestic Nigerian businesses.

In line with best practice in corporate governance, UBA has elected to have its half year results audited, before its release to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) thursday.

UBA’s earnings grew strongly by 21 per cent to N166.9 billion during the period, compared to N138.2 billion in the same period of June 2014.

The Bank’s profit before tax (PBT) also rose 35.1 per cent to N39.0 billion, while profit after tax (PAT) was up a significant 40 per cent to N32 billion within the same period. As a reward to shareholders, the Bank has announced the payment of an interim dividend of 20 kobo per share.

Speaking on the results, UBA Group Managing Director/CEO, Phillips Oduoza, said: “In spite of a challenging operating environment, our business strategy has proved to be resilient, balancing 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.”

Further analysis of the UBA 2015 half year results showed significant improvement in operational efficiencies. The Bank’s net operating income rose 21 per cent 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 per cent; as against 68 per cent in the same period in 2014.

According to Oduoza, “We delivered strong growth of 21 per cent in gross earnings and 40 per cent in profit after tax, reflecting better extraction of value across all business segments and our ongoing process optimisation. 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.”

UBA maintained a healthy loan book, a tribute to both its risk management and to the robustness of its clients’s businesses, with non-performing ratio at just 1.8 per cent of total loans granted, one of the lowest in the banking industry.

Speaking on the performance of the bank’s African subsidiaries, the Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Ugo Nwaghodoh, said: “Our business in Africa (ex-Nigeria) is beginning to significantly impact our returns, contributing 23 per cent 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 eight million personnel and corporate clients across Africa, priding itself on bringing financial inclusion to the continent and supporting Africa’s next generation of entrepreneurs.

 

[ThisDay]