The United Bank for Africa’s assets surpassed N8 trillion at the end of the first half of 2021, in June.
The lender’s total assets increased to N8.3 trillion, up from N7.7 trillion at the end of the 2020 financial year, according to audited half-year financial figures released recently.
The bank also recorded excellent growth across all key income streams and performance metrics during the period under review, according to the report filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
The pan-African financial institution’s profit before tax increased by 33.4 percent to N76.2 billion in June 2021, up from N57.1 billion in the same period of 2020.
This resulted in a 17.5 percent annualized Return on Average Equity (RoAE) compared to 14.4% a year ago.
Despite the difficult commercial and economic climate created by the sluggish pace of activity following the global lockdown caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, this achievement was achieved.
In addition, the group’s profit after tax increased by 36.3 percent to N60.6 billion in the first half of 2020, compared to N44.4 billion in the previous half.
Similarly, gross earnings grew to N316 billion, which was a five percent increase, from the N300.6 billion recorded as of June 2020.
Its customer deposit also crossed the N6 trillion mark, growing by 7.4 percent to N6.1 trillion in the period under review, compared with N5.7 trillion as of December 2020.
Furthermore, the group’s Shareholders’ Funds remained robust at N752.5 billion, up from N724.1 billion in December 2020, reflecting its strong capacity for internal capital generation.
In line with the bank’s culture of paying both interim and final cash dividends, the Board of Directors of UBA declared an interim dividend of 20 kobos per share for every ordinary share of 50 kobos each, held by its shareholders.
Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, expressed satisfaction with the bank’s performance in the first half of the year.
“This has been a good first half for us,” he said, “as global economic recovery surpassed forecasts, resulting in a positive ripple effect on consumer and business confidence, savings, and investment activity.
As we proceeded to utilize our core strategic levers – People, Process, and Technology, as well as our Customer-first attitude – to transform customer experience at UBA, we saw this favorably affect our business.”
He also stated that the bank’s investment in Rest of Africa (excluding Nigeria) is continuing to produce positive results for the company.
“Despite the low yield environment in our largest market, Nigeria, the benefits of pan-African business diversification accruing to the Group is once again evident, with gross earnings and interest income growth of 5.1 percent and 8.3 percent respectively, despite the benefits of pan-African business diversification accruing to the Group,” Uzoka added.
Continuing, Group Managing Director pointed out that the bank recognizes the far-reaching effects of the pandemic on businesses globally, and remains focused on its promise to always provide our customers with the best banking experiences possible.
“Our first half 2021 (H1 2021) performance reflects our progressive efforts in building on the strong momentum that we started the year with. As a purpose-driven organization, we remain resolute in our drive for sustained growth in customer acquisition, transaction volumes, and balance sheet, as we consolidate our ‘Africa’s Global Bank’ market position in the years ahead, uplifting livelihoods across the continent,” Uzoka explained.
UBA’s Group Chief Financial Officer (GCFO), Ugo Nwaghodoh, on his part, noted that the bank’s goal was to achieve a marked improvement in earnings quality whilst maintaining positive operating leverage as well as top-notch asset quality.
“The Group recorded RoAE of 17.5 percent (from 15.1% in 2020H1) and a Net-Interest-Margin of 5.8 percent (from 5.4% in H12020) as we played the volatile yield environment diligently for the best return on our interest-earning assets.
“Capital position remained strong, with capital adequacy and liquidity ratios of 23.9 percent (22.4% in 2020H1) and 58.3 percent (58.2% in 2020H1) respectively. This is robust enough to support our growth ambitions,” he said.
The GCFO pointed out that even while the operating environment remains largely uncertain and volatile, despite marked improvement from Covid-19 induced macroeconomic stress, UBA will continue to build resilience through its geographically diversified business model to support headline earnings growth for the Group.
“We remain committed to our 18 percent and 15 percent respective RoAE and deposit growth guidance for FY 2021, as we continue to invest in growth opportunities across our geographies of operation, whilst managing capital and balance sheet prudently,” Nwaghodoh stated.
UBA offers banking services to more than twenty-five million customers, across over 1,000 business offices and customer touchpoints, in 20 African countries.
With a presence in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and France, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail; commercial and corporate banking; innovative cross-border payments and remittances; trade finance, and ancillary banking services.
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