Kennedy Uzoka
The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has
announced its audited financial results for the half year ended June
30, 2020, showing growth across key performance indices as well as
increased contribution from its African subsidiaries.
Notwithstanding the challenging business
and economic environment occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, the pan
African financial institution was able to deliver growth in its gross
earnings which rose to N300.6 billion, up from the N294 billion recorded
in the same period of 2019.
According to the results filed with the
Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the Group recorded N2.2 trillion in net
loans to customers, representing a 6.1 per cent growth even as deposits
from customers increased impressively by 25.2 per cent to N4.8 trillion.
Net interest income grew by 8.4 per cent
to N119.3 billion, whilst net fee and commission income stood at
N38.6billion representing a seven per cent increase compared to the
similar period in 2019.
As at June 30, 2020, the Bank’s Total
Assets surpassed the N6 trillion mark as it leaped to N6.8 trillion.
Operating income also grew by 7.7% to N197.1bn compared to N182.9bn
while profit before tax stood at N57.1bn from N70.3bn in 2019, yielding a
14.4 per cent annualised return on average equity.
The bank’s Shareholders’ Funds remained
strong at N634.7bn up from N597.9 billion in December 2019, driven by
growth in retained earnings, a reflection of UBA’s capacity for business
growth. In line with its culture of paying both interim and final cash
dividend, the Board of Directors of UBA Plc declared an interim dividend
of N0.17 per share for every ordinary share of N0.50 each held by its
shareholders.
Commenting on the results, UBA’s Group
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka said “Our
2020 H1 results is yet another demonstration of the resilience of our
business model in an extremely uncertain and tough operating
environment. We recorded commendable growth in our underlying business
in terms of customer acquisition, transaction volumes and balance sheet
whilst inflation, depressed yield environment and exchange rate
volatilities impacted our net earnings as anticipated.”
He further stated, “Despite the
short-term challenges to various economic sectors occasioned by the
Covid-19 pandemic, we focused on the fundamentals of businesses in
growth-driving sectors of various economies in which we operate and
achieved 6.4 per cent growth in gross loan to customers, reaching the
N2.3 trillion mark.
“The Group achieved N114.3 billion (a
10% YoY growth) in interest income from loans and advances to customers,
as well as credit related fees and commissions.”
Uzoka explained that notwithstanding the
lock-down in a number of countries and the general lull in several
economic sectors, UBA’s banking channels remained open to customers
‘24/7’, adding that, “Fortunately, we had proactively built robust
electronic channel platforms to enable us serve customers efficiently,
and deliver services to them in the comfort of their homes. Notably, we
are adjusting our operating model in response to the ‘new normal’ and
will continue to optimise the way we work and serve customers in the
days ahead.”
He expressed confidence in the bank’s
capacity to deliver good returns to shareholders, “we remain committed
to our drive as ‘Africa’s Global Bank’ and confident of claiming and
sustaining industry leadership on key metrics across geographies where
we operate. We will strive to deliver our services in a sustainable way,
ultimately leveraging our best-in-class digital capabilities to delight
our 21 million (and growing) customers across 23 countries.”
Also speaking on the results, UBA’s Group CFO, Ugo Nwaghodoh said
“Our H1 2020 results reflects the inherent benefits of diversification
as we have seen marked growth in contribution from the subsidiaries
across Africa. Our Rest-of-Africa operations have continued to break new
grounds in market share gains, providing a buffer for Group earnings.”
No comments :
Post a Comment