By Dipo Olowookere
The third quarter financial results of pan-African banking group, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), has shown a 7% year-on-year growth in profit before tax to N62 billion.
This comes despite the challenging macro-economic environment.
In the results, the bank had an impressive 18.2% annualized return on average equity and also recorded an appreciable growth in both funding and fee income lines.
Group Managing Director and CEO of UBA Plc, Mr Kennedy Uzoka, while commenting on the report said, “I am pleased with our performance in the first nine months of the year.”
“Notwithstanding the negative economic growth in Nigeria, we maintained growth in earnings and sustained our asset quality. Increasingly, we are leveraging our unique pan-African platform to drive new customer acquisition and grow market share across our African subsidiaries,” an enthused Mr Uzoka added.
In addition, UBA’s level of impairment in its overall loan book was moderate, while the Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio of 2.5% and 0.9% cost of risk remained one of the best in the industry.
Its third quarter results also show significant efficiency gains with appreciable growth in operating income by 11% to N183 billion while profit after tax rose by 8% to N52 billion within the period.
Though partly driven by the depreciation in the value of the naira, UBA also recorded a significant 21% year-to-date growth in deposits and a similar 26% growth in total assets.
The bank also ensured that cost-to-income ratio remained flat year-on-year at 65% despite external cost pressures which masked the positive results of its cost efficiency initiatives.
UBA maintained 43% liquidity ratio and 17.6% BASEL II capital adequacy ratio, well ahead of regulatory requirement.
Also speaking on the results, Group CFO, Mr Ugo Nwaghodoh, stated that, “The growth in deposits and total assets reflects the Bank’s increased share of customers’ wallet and deepening banking penetration across all its chosen markets in Nigeria and Africa which again accounted for a third of the Group’s earnings.”
Mr Nwaghodoh assured that UBA will continue to balance its appetite for growth and profitability with the strategy of sustaining strong liquidity and capital ratios.
