New Telegraph

H1: UBA delivers N300.6bn gross earnings

…declares N0.17k interim dividend

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc. has announced its audited financial results for the half year ended June 30, 2020, showing a growth across key performance indices as well as increased contribution from its African subsidiaries. Notwithstanding the challenging business and economic environment occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the pan African financial institution was able to deliver growth in its gross earnings which rose to N300.6 billion up from N294 billion recorded in the same period of 2019. According to its results filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the Group recorded N2.2 trillion in net loans to customers, representing a 6.1 per cent growth even as deposits from customers increased impressively by 25.2 per cent to N4.8 trillion. Net interest income grew by 8.4 per cent to N119.3 billion, whilst net fee and commission income stood at N38.6 billion, representing a 7.0 per cent increase compared to the similar period in 2019.

As at June 30, 2020, the bank’s total assets surpassed the N6 trillion mark as it leaped to N6.8 trillion. Operating income also grew by 7.7 per cent to N197.1 billion compared to N182.9 billion, while profit before tax stood at N57.1 billion from N70.3 billion in 2019, yielding a 14.4 per cent annualised return on average equity.

The bank’s Shareholders’ Funds remained strong at N634.7 billion, up from N597.9 billion in December 2019, driven by growth in retained earnings, a reflection of UBA’s capacity for business growth. In line with its culture of paying both interim and final cash dividend, the Board of Directors of UBA Plc. declared an 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, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, said: “Our 2020H1 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. “Despite the shortterm 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% growth in gross loan to customers, reaching the N2.3 trillion mark.

“The Group achieved N114.3 billion (a 10 per cent YoY growth) 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 ‘24/7’, adding that: “Fortunately, we had proactively built robust electronic channel platforms to enable us serve customers efficiently and deliver services to them in the comfort of their homes. Notably, we are adjusting our operating model in response to the ‘new normal’ and will continue to optimise the way we work and serve customers in the days ahead.”

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