UBA delivers N300.6bn gross earnings, declares N0.17k interim dividend
Africa’s leading financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has announced its audited financial results for the half year (H1) ended June 30, 2020, showing commendable 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 N300.6billion up from N294billion 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 percent growth even as deposits from customers increased impressively by 25.2 percent to N4.8 trillion.
Net interest income grew by 8.4 percent to N119.3 billion, whilst net fee and commission income stood at
N38.6 billion representing a 7 percent increase compared to the similar period in 2019.
As at June 30, 2020, the Bank’s Total Assets surpassed the N6trillion mark as it leaped to N6.8 trillion.
Operating income also grew by 7.7 percent to N197.1billion compared to N182.9billion while profit before tax stood at N57.1billion from N70.3billion in 2019, yielding a 14.4 percent annualised return on average equity.
The bank’s Shareholders’ Funds remained strong at N634.7billion up from N597.9billion 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 17kobo 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 are 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.
He further stated, “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 percent growth in gross loan to customers, reaching the N2.3 trillion mark.
The Group achieved N114.3 billion (a 10percent year-on-year growth) in interest income from loans and advances to customers, as well as credit related fees and commissions.