Banking
GCR Affirms Union Bank’s BBB+(NG) Rating
By Dipo Olowookere
The national scale ratings of BBB+(NG) and A2(NG) in the long and short term respectively assigned to Union Bank of Nigeria Plc by Global Credit Ratings (GCR) have been affirmed.
The ratings, placed on Rating Watch, are valid until January 2018, GCR said in a statement issued last week.
Explaining why the ratings were affirmed, GCR said Union Bank maintained a relatively stable market share of 3.6 percent (in terms of total assets), ranking UBN among Nigeria’s mid-tier banks.
After its recapitalisation in 2012, the bank embarked on a transformation journey to become one of the country’s leading mid-sized banks by 2018, a strategy management actively pursued in FY16.
Total shareholders’ funds grew 10.1 percent to N271.7 billion at FY16.
However, the bank’s capital adequacy ratio (CAR) declined to 13.3 percent (FY15: 15.3 percent), falling below the regulatory minimum of 15 percent.
CAR was impacted by an increase in risk weighted assets, caused by naira devaluation during the period.
To strengthen capitalisation, management is in the process of raising additional capital of about N50 billion by way of a Rights Issue. This is expected to be concluded before the end of FY17.
The bank’s gross non-performing loan (NPL) ratio remained relatively stable at FY16 (6.9 percent vs. 6.7 percent at FY15), but above Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) tolerable limit of 5 percent.
Specific provision coverage of impaired loans reduced to 40 percent from 44.6 percent at FY15, while total coverage stood at 182 percent at FY16.
Management continue to focus on NPL recoveries, amidst a tightening credit risk granting criteria. Total recoveries as at 1H FY17 stood at N1.7 billion.
UBN’s regulatory liquidity ratio ranged between 33 percent and 44 percent throughout FY16, and averaged 40 percent (FY15: 45 percent) for the period, against a regulatory minimum of 30 percent.
The bank’s liquid asset to short term funding ratio declined to 21.5 percent (FY15: 23.9 percent), albeit comparing favourably with peers. Liquidity across the industry was impacted by increase in banks’ cash reserve ratio during the period.
Profit before tax for the bank, which grew 6.7 percent to N15.7 billion (in line with budget), was underpinned by 7.8 percent and 9.3 percent growth in interest and non-interest income respectively.
However, profitability was constrained by an increase in operating expenses and impairments. Operating expenses grew on the back of higher staff and IT costs, while impairments were largely impacted by foreign currency movement.
As a result, return on average equity and assets stood at 6.1 percent and 1.4 percent in FY16, from 6.2 percent and 1.4 percent in FY15 respectively.
Annualised pre-tax profit as at 1H FY17 is reflected ahead of budget and that of same period in FY16, largely supported by growth in non-interest income.
GCR explained that the Rating Watch reflects UBN’s current CAR position and the planned capital raising for FY17. Global Credit Rating will reassess the ratings immediately after year-end.
The rating may be reviewed upward following a sustained improvement in profitability, liquidity and market share. Also, an improvement in asset quality metrics such that it falls within the tolerable limit may be favourably considered.
A downward review of the rating may result from the bank’s continued inability to meet the regulatory required CAR, and/or further decline in liquidity and/or asset quality metrics.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.
The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.
The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.
They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.
They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.
The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.
In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.
The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.
After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.
“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.
“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.
“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.
“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.
“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.
This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.
“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”
Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.
He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.
“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.
“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.
A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.
It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.
The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.
Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.
He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.
Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.
He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.
He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.
At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.
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