Economy
UBA Raises Half-Year Dividend by 17.7% Amid 36.5% Rise in Net Profit
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.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices climbed about 2 per cent to a one-month high on Tuesday after the US reportedly reimposed a naval blockade on Iran, which will reduce oil flows from the region through the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent futures rose by $1.43 or 1.7 per cent to settle at $84.73 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by $1.20 or 1.5 per cent to $79.34 a barrel.
Brent closed at its highest since June 12, and WTI at its highest since June 15. The closing price increase kept Brent in technically overbought territory for a second day in a row for the first time since March.
Before the Iran war, about 20 per cent of global oil supplies flowed through the strait.
US President Donald Trump stepped back from a proposal to charge a 20 per cent fee to guard the Strait of Hormuz as part of the conflict with Iran, saying he would instead seek investment deals with Gulf states.
US forces had carried out waves of attacks for the third night after Iran said it had closed the strait. President Trump on Monday reinstated a blockade of Iranian shipping and proposed the fee, but hours before the fee was to take effect, the American President said the strait was open to all shipping traffic except that of Iran.
The renewed attacks have fed doubts that a memorandum of understanding signed last month will lead to a permanent halt in the war that has disrupted global energy supplies and stoked inflation fears.
Data showed that US consumer inflation slowed more than expected in June as energy prices retreated, but financial markets still expect an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.
The Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh on Tuesday vowed to “do my job” if challenged by President Trump, who has said he wants the US central bank to cut interest rates and boost economic growth.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the US fell by 564,000 barrels in the week ending July 10. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories fell by 399,000 barrels.
Although commercial crude oil inventories excluding the SPR have been falling rapidly for three months now, shedding just over 60 million barrels over the last twelve weeks, US crude inventories are only down 9.2 million barrels so far this year. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will release its report later on Wednesday.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The 700,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery has begun pricing fuel products for the local market in US Dollars amid crude supply challenges.
The company cited difficulties securing sufficient crude under the government’s Naira-for-crude programme and rising global oil prices as reasons for the development.
The Naira-for-crude programme, launched in October 2024, allowed domestic refiners to purchase crude in the local currency and reduced pressure on the foreign exchange market.
Mr Edwin Devakumar, the vice president of the Dangote Group, said the refinery had been absorbing a currency mismatch by selling products in Naira while sourcing crude in Dollars, but limited crude supply under the Naira-for-crude programme had undermined the arrangement’s viability.
Dangote has now set the ex-depot price of petrol at $0.779 per litre, diesel at $1.087 per litre and aviation fuel at $0.942 per litre, according to a pricing template circulated to marketers.
Although the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited increased Dangote’s allocation to seven cargoes in May from about five previously, the refiner has said it requires 13 to 15 cargoes a month and has been forced to import the remainder at international prices.
The decision could boost demand for Dollars among fuel marketers and make domestic fuel prices more sensitive to exchange-rate fluctuations.
Dangote Refinery is steadily ramping up operations toward full capacity after a gradual start since late 2023. In April alone, it received 21 separate crude cargoes, with all supplies coming from West Africa, mainly Nigerian crude grades, with one cargo from Cameroon; however, it boosted international cargoes in recent months.
The refinery has been broadening the range of crude grades it processes as part of its ambition to operate as a fully merchant refinery. In 2025, about 70 per cent of the refinery’s crude imports came from Nigeria, while 24 per cent originated from the United States.
Dangote plans to double the refinery’s processing capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day by the end of 2028, a level that would enable it to process about 80 per cent of Nigeria’s recent crude oil production in a single day.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
