By Dipo Olowookere
In the first nine months of 2021, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc recorded a net profit of N104.6 billion, higher than the N77.1 billion reported in the same period of 2020.
Before then, it posted a profit before tax of N123.4 billion in the period under consideration in contrast to the N90.4 billion achieved in the first nine months of last year, while the earnings per share (EPS) increased to N2.94 from N2.16.
According to the financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2021, UBA said it had a net interest income of N229.3 billion compared with the N186.0 billion recorded in the same period of 2020, while the fee and commission income rose to N111.0 billion from N85.0 billion, with the fee and commission expense increasing to N43.1 billion from N28.8 billion, leaving the net fee and commission income at N67.9 billion, higher than N56.3 billion a year ago.
However, UBA suffered a decline in the net trading and foreign exchange income as it closed at N27.3 billion compared with N45.7 billion in the same period of last year. The decline was major due to the foreign currency revaluation loss of N11.2 billion as against the gain of N9.2 billion in the first nine months of 2020. The loss was despite a significant increase in the FX trading income of N35.6 billion versus N19.9 billion achieved in Q3 of last year.
The low net trading and forex income impacted negatively on the total non-interest income of the financial institution as it stood at N102.4 billion in contrast to N107.8 billion reported last year.
However, the operating income of the lender rose to N331.7 billion from N293.8 billion, while the net operating income after impairment loss on loans and receivables increased to N328.3 billion from N282.3 billion.
In terms of the expenditures of the bank in the first nine months of this year, the financial results showed that employees benefit expenses gulped N66.4 billion, slightly lower than the N66.6 billion spent in the same period of 2020, while other operating costs took N123.2 billion compared with N111.7 billion of last year, with the total operating expenses at N206.0 billion versus N192.7 billion in Q3 of 2020.
