United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has posted impressive performance across all its major indices for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022,led by a significant rise in its gross earnings which rose to N608 billion, up from N493 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.
The commendable record, which replicates the strong performance the pan-African bank achieved in the first two quarters of the current fiscal year, further showed that the bank’s operating income grew by 27.3 per cent to close at N414.1 billion as at September 2022, up from N334.8 billion achieved a year earlier.
The bank’s recent financial report filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), also showed a 12.3 per cent rise in profit before tax at N138.5 billion compared to N123.4 billion recorded at the end of the third quarter of 2021, while profit after tax also rose significantly by 10.9 per cent to N116 billion up from N104.6 billion recorded a year earlier, thus sustaining its annualised return on average equity for Q3 2022 at 19.2 per cent.
In addition, the bank maintained a very strong balance sheet, with total assets rising to N9.3 trillion, representing a 9.1 percent increase over the N8.5 trillion recorded at the end of December 2021. Customer deposits also recorded a positive performance as it rose to N7.03 trillion, representing a 10.4 per cent rise, up from N6.4 trillion at the end of the last financial year. This, according to the bank, was underpinned by its technology-led initiatives targeted at improving customer experience over the past few years,
In another development, the bank reported that its shareholders’ funds remained very strong at N809 billion up from N805 billion recorded in December 2021, reflecting a strong capacity for internal capital generation and growth.
Commenting on the result, Oliver Alawuba, UBA’s group managing director/chief executive officer, remarked that the banking group with operations in 20 African countries and offices in three global financial centres, continues to show notable operating resilience amid significant headwinds in its presence markets amidst heightened global risk environment. He further explained that the bank’s strong diversification model and unwavering focus on customer satisfaction continues to give the bank an edge over its peers in the industry.
“We continue to reap the benefits of our diversification strategy and Customer -1st philosophy and build resilience in our operations across Africa and the rest of the world to support the mission of providing superior value to our stakeholders,” he said.
This, he noted, has translated into strong financial gains evident in growth in the bank’s customer deposits and net interest margin.
Alawuba also expressed confidence that given the strong growth of its payments and transaction banking offerings, the bank is strategically positioned to drive its market share across all operating countries.
On his part, Ugo Nwaghodoh, executive director, finance & risk management said the bank’s profitability increased by 12.3 per cent to N138.5 billion, with underlying growth in its key income lines and moderation in cost of funds.
“We remain very cautious in risk asset creation as we defensively position our asset portfolios to minimize the impact of the heightened credit risk. Consequently, our NPL ratio remains within acceptable threshold at 3.2%,” he added.
