Economy

UBA Raises Half-Year Dividend by 17.7% Amid 36.5% Rise in Net Profit

Published

4 years ago

10/09/2021

By Dipo Olowookere

The board of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has given shareholders of the company a reason to smile and possibly prepare for a feast as it has increased the interim dividend payout for 2021 by 17.7 per cent.

On Thursday, the financial institution released its financial statements for the period ended June 30, 2021, to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited and it was stated that shareholders will get 20 kobo as cash reward compared with 17 kobo they received in the same time of last year.

Business Post reports that UBA has fixed Thursday, September 30 for the payment of the half-year dividend but it would only be given to shareholders whose names appear on the register of members as at the close of business on Thursday, September 23.

A look at the results showed that the gross earnings increased by 5.0 per cent to N315.3 billion from N300.3 billion in H1 2020, driven by an increase in the contributions of the Rest of Africa and the Rest of the World operations.

The revenue from the Rest of Africa grew to N141.9 billion from N107.2 billion last year, the earnings from the Rest of the World also rose to N9.6 billion from N9.2 billion, while the total revenue from its Nigeria operations depreciated to N171.2 billion from N189.6 billion.

In terms of the earnings from its operating segments, the corporate arm of the business generated N88.3 billion in the first six months of this year, higher than the N55.3 billion in HY 2020; the retail and commercial arm raked N156.9 billion, lower than the N184.8 billion in the same period of last year, while the treasury and financial markets segment generated N70.1 billion, higher than the N60.2 billion a year ago.

In the accounting period, UBA recorded a net interest income of N148.1 billion compared with N119.3 billion in the same time of 2020, driven by higher interest income and lower interest expense of N74.6 billion compared with the N86.3 billion posted in the first half of 2020.

In addition, the net fees and commission income closed higher at N45.8 billion versus N38.6 billion in H1 2020 due to the fees and commission income of N74.1 billion in the period under review compared with N55.9 billion in the same period of last year and fees and commission expense of N28.3 billion in contrast to N17.3 billion it printed 12 months earlier.

However, the net trading and foreign exchange income significantly went down to N9.1 billion from N35.2 billion, while other operating income rose to N9.5 billion from N3.6 billion.

In HY 2021, the lender pruned its employee benefit expenses to N42.6 billion from N44.6 billion but could not tame its other operating expenses, which jumped to N78.8 billion from N78.0 billion due to higher fuel, repairs and maintenance costs; bank charges; deposit insurance premium; and banking sector resolution costs.

The financial statements showed that the pre-tax profit of UBA increased by 33.5 per cent to N76.2 billion from N57.1 billion, while the net profit improved by 36.5 per cent to N60.6 billion from N44.4 billion, with the earnings per share (EPS) at N1.69 in contrast to N1.24 in the first six months of last year.

The total assets of the bank moved to N8.3 trillion in H1 2021 from N7.7 trillion in FY 2020, while the total liabilities rose to N7.6 trillion from N7.0 trillion, with deposits from customers accounting for N6.1 trillion of the total liabilities compared with N5.7 trillion as at December 31, 2020.

Economy

Nigerian Stocks Close 1.13% Higher to Remain in Bulls’ Territory

Published

2 hours ago

20/12/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.

Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.

Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.

But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.

Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.

A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.

Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.

Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.

Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.

Economy

FrieslandCampina, Two Others Erase N26bn from NASD OTC Bourse

Published

4 hours ago

20/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.

The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.

On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.

During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.

Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.

The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.

Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,464/$1 at Official Market, N1,485/$1 at Black Market

Published

6 hours ago

20/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.

In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.

In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.

In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.

The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.

President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.

The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.

President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.

Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.