Union Bank Records N145bn Earnings, N19bn Profit

Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has announced a profit after tax (PAT) of N18.046 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018, showing an increase of 39 per cent compared with N13.008 billion recorded in 2017.

According to the audited results, Union Bank posted gross earnings of N145.317 billion, which is a decline of about 12 per cent from N163.844 billion in 2017. The bank attributed the lower gross earnings to an eight per cent drop in loan book.

However, net revenue after impairments rose 16 per cent to N93.5 billion, from N80.64 billion. Profit before tax grew by 33 per cent from N13.9 billion to N18.5 billion, while PAT rose to N18.046 billion from N13 billion in 2017.

Commenting on the results, the Managing Director/CEO Emeka Emuwa said: “Our priorities in 2018 were three pronged; enhancing our productivity across board; tightening up our loan portfolio (especially resolving key large exposures which drove non-performing loans) up significantly at the end of 2017); and optimizing the bank’s capital and funding base. I am pleased to report that we made significant strides in each focus area. Notwithstanding a depressed economic environment and a challenging operating landscape, our efforts to optimise productivity delivered results. As consumer confidence in the brand continues to grow, customer deposits also continue to grow, up 7.3 per cent to N857.6 billion in 2018 from N802.4 billion in 2017. Our net revenues after impairments are also up 16 per cent to N93.5 billion compared to N80.6 billion in 2017 with significant contribution from growth in retail transaction volumes across our channels.”

According to him, through an aggressive focus on recoveries and recognising fully provisioned loans on “our books, we successfully reduced the bank’s NPL ratio, which is now down to 8.1 per cent in 2018 from 20.8 per cent at the end of 2017, in line with guidance provided at the start of the year. In 2019, we will continue to maintain focus on recoveries while prudently rebuilding our loan book and maintaining a conservative risk profile.”

Looking ahead, Emuwa said: “In 2019, we will double-down on our productivity efforts to deliver our financial targets.We are harnessing synergies across our business segments to ensure we maximize opportunities across entire value chains, while centralising key business and operational functions for better efficiency, and prioritizing customer experience across all our touch points.”