UNION Bank posts impressive result as share price drops

Investors are not particularly excited about buying equities of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc as many have lost as much as 5.7 per cent on their purchase since August 2014.

The banks stock has dropped from N11.00 per share last year to a recent price of N8.50 per share.

However, investor’s earlier misgivings may soon give way to optimism as the bank’s half year unaudited result for 2015 foretells stronger earnings per share by year end.

Despite major economic constraints in the first half of 2015, Union Bank has remain unfazed as  it grew its profit before tax by 53% from N6.6bn by June 2014 to  N10.2bn in its most recently announced financial statement for 2015.

The banks gross earnings rose by 17 per cent compared to its 2014 figure.

Commenting on the 2015 half year results, Mr. Emeka Emuwa, the banks Managing Director, noted that,  “the successful implementation and migration to a new banking platform, Oracle FlexCube UBS, has provided a more stable operating environment for us to serve customers and process routine transactions quicker and more efficiently.

In spite of economic headwinds and regulatory changes impacting the financial industry, Union Bank remains on a stable growth trajectory as we implement initiatives to grow our core banking segments.

Our gross earnings grew by 17% in the first half of 2015 compared to H1-2014, and notwithstanding the significant volatility across the macro-economic landscape, the Bank delivered Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N10.2 billion, a 53% increase over the same period in 2014.

Excluding the gain on the sale of subsidiaries, the Bank delivered Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N6.7 billion, a 134% increase over the first half of 2014.

Deposits also continue to move in the right direction with 8% growth when compared to December 2014. Non-volatile deposits alone grew by N55.7 billion during the first half of 2015.

As more clarity emerges in the macro-economic environment in the second half, we expect to consolidate the gains we have made in the first half of the year; maintaining our focus on delivering operating efficiencies across our operations and proactively managing our risk whilst exploring emerging opportunities in the economy.”

Further commenting on the half year numbers, Chief Financial Officer, Mrs. Oyinkan Adewale said:

“This was a good performance for the bank across most financial metrics, which can be attributed to our improving fundamentals and operational discipline.