By Dipo Olowookere
The management of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has said its results for the second quarter of 2020 should be released on or before Tuesday, September 29, 2020.
The lender made this disclosure on Monday, August 31, 2020, in a notice sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), to inform investors on the reason for the delay.
According to UBA, a tier-1 bank, the audited results for the half-year ended June 30, 2020, have not been submitted to the exchange because of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Last month, the financial institution’s board of directors held a meeting to look into the results and thereafter approved them before being forwarded to the CBN.
However, the banking industry watchdog, according to UBA, is yet to approve the financial institution, ostensibly because it was still critically looking into the details of the documents.
“United Bank for Africa Plc hereby notifies the Nigerian Stock Exchange, its esteemed shareholders, stakeholders and the investing public of the delay in the filing of its Audited Financial Statements for the Half-Year ended June 30, 2020, within the extended regulatory filing deadline as the Audited Financial Statements are still undergoing necessary regulatory approvals,” the lender said in the statement.
However, UBA expressed optimism “that the Audited Financial Statements will be submitted to the exchange on or before September 29, 2020.”
Business Post reports that the results of UBA and its peers are anxiously being anticipated by many investors, especially the dividend hunters, who expect the bank to declare an interim dividend for the period under review.
On September 18, 2019, UBA paid an interim dividend of 20 kobo for every ordinary share of 50 kobo each of the company held by its shareholder as at the close of business on September 12, 2019.
It is not certain if the CBN will allow the payment of interim dividend this year because of the global health crisis caused by COVID-19.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale