UBA posts 32% increase in post-tax post to N81.63bn in Q3 2019

Despite the sluggish economic growth in Nigeria, UBA succeeded in increasing profit-after-tax by 32 per cent in the first nine months of 2019 to N81.63 billion.

The Pan-African bank grew gross revenue by 14.23 per cent to N428.74 billion, buoyed by dividend income, which shot up almost 100 per cent, causing other operating income to soar 91.46 per cent to N8.07 billion, its third quarter financial statements showed.

However, interest income only increased 10.77 per cent to N297.90 billion, while fee and commission income was up 24. 90 per cent to N86.53 billion, helped by 71 per cent rise in Credit-related fees and commissions.

While UBA spent 17. 55 per cent more as interest income expenses, amounting to N138.99 billion, it cost N23.24 billion to raise its fees and commission income, which was 27.49 per cent higher than it spent during the same period last year.

The bank had a total Assets of N4.96 trillion, an increase over the N4.87 trillion recorded in December 2018. Customer Deposits also grew to N3.37trillion, while shareholders’ fund rose 10.5 per cent to N555.53 billion.

Commenting on the results, the Group Managing Director, UBA Plc, Kennedy Uzoka, said: “The resilience of our business model and our focused growth of earning assets have yielded a 10.8 per cent growth in interest income. In addition to the commendable yield on interest earning assets, we also achieved a 22.1 per cent growth in non-interest income, driven largely by the increased penetration of our superior digital banking offerings, credit expansion, remittances and other lifestyle transactional services.”

“UBA remains committed to its vision of becoming the undisputed leading and dominant financial services institution in Africa. We will continue to innovate and lead in all our business segments, whilst delivering top-notch operational efficiencies and best-in-class customer service. We are beginning to realise early gains from our ongoing Transformation Program and I am indeed excited about the days ahead,” Uzoka stated.

Also throwing more light on the bank’s financial performance and position, the Group CFO, Ugo Nwaghodoh said “with the results achieved in the quarter under consideration, the bank remains on track to deliver its earnings target for the year. We were able to grow the loan book by 14.7 per cent, (well ahead of our guidance) focusing on growth poles of various economies in which we operate. We have also developed new credit products targeted at specific consumer and SME market segments, and will continue to do so with strict adherence to best credit/underwriting standards, as we strive to achieve the statutory loan-to-funding ratio threshold set by the apex bank.”