United Bank for Africa Plc has posted gross earnings of N300.6bn for the half year ended June 30, 2020, up from N294bn recorded in the same period in 2019.
According to the financial institution’s results filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange, UBA recorded N2.2tn in net loans to customers, representing a 6.1 per cent growth even as deposits from customers increased by 25.2 per cent to N4.8tn.
Net interest income grew by 8.4 per cent to N119.3bn, whilst net fee and commission income stood at N38.6bn representing a 7.0 per cent increase compared to the similar period in 2019.
As of June 30, 2020, the bank’s total assets surpassed the N6tn mark as it leapt to N6.8tn. Operating income also grew by 7.7 per cent 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 N597.9bn in December 2019, driven by growth in retained earnings.
In line with its culture of paying both interim and final cash dividend, the Board of Directors approved 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, 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.”
Speaking further, he noted, “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 N2.3tn mark.
The group achieved N114.3bn in interest income from loans and advances to customers, as well as credit-related fees and commissions.
Uzoka explained that notwithstanding the lockdown in a number of countries and the general lull in several economic sectors, UBA’s banking channels remained open to customers.
Also speaking on the results, UBA’s Group Chief Finance Officer, 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. The group’s capital adequacy ratio increased to 24.9 per cent providing a very strong buffer for asset growth. We remain committed to maintaining our robust risk management practices, as profitable growth and good asset quality remain our priority in 2020.”
