Economy

Union Bank to Boost 2021 Earnings, Cuts NPL Ratio to 4.0%

Published

5 years ago

29/03/2021

By Dipo Olowookere

Shareholders of the Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) have been assured of more value for their investment in the financial institution.

This assurance was given by the outgoing Managing Director of Union Bank, Mr Emeka Emuwa. The banker will cease to head the lender from Thursday, April 1, 2021.

A few days ago, the bank released its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, and in the period, it recorded sustained growth in key income lines and significantly improved fundamentals despite the constrained operating environment largely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reason for good performance

Union Bank attributed this sterling performance to its investments in technology and progressive work culture over the past eight years.

The lender said these strategies enabled a swift response to the pandemic that allowed its workforce to transition to remote working while maintaining the productivity required to deliver this strong set of results in 2020.

Mr Emuwa assured that in 2021, shareholders should expect improved results as “the bank will focus on enhancing revenues and shareholder value by revving up customer acquisition, engagement and transactions through seamless customer journeys and an optimized service delivery platform.”

CEO on Union Bank 2020 Results

Commenting on the performance of the company in the previous financial year, Mr Emuwa, who has led the lender for eight years, stated that, “The bank has delivered a strong set of results notwithstanding the impact of COVID-19 on our operations and the wider economy, enabling the board of directors to continue to return value to shareholders with a proposed dividend payment for the second year in a row.

“This demonstrates the strong foundations we have built, as we continue to deliver against our target of becoming a leading financial institution in Nigeria.”

“For the full year, we grew across key income lines. Net income after impairments grew 8.3 per cent from N95.5 billion to N103.4 billion and translated into 2.8 per cent growth in profit before tax to N25.4 billion from N24.7 billion.

“The core of this performance is driven by the growth in our loan book, with a 23.8 per cent increase in gross loans to N736.7 billion from N595.3 billion in 2019.

“The pandemic accelerated trends in customer behaviour and we have seen a rapid increase in digital adoption with a 38 per cent year-on-year increase in active users on our UnionMobile channel with total active users now at 2.9 million.

“Our UnionOne and Union360 platforms for businesses grew by 11 per cent from 25,000 users to 27,700 users and 94 per cent of transactions in the bank are now done digitally, up from 89 per cent in 2019.

“We also aggressively grew UnionDirect (our agent network) by 6x from 3,100 to 18,100 in line with our focus on our retail business. With our investments yielding positive results, we are well-positioned as a strong leader in the retail and digital space.”

Concluding, he said, “As I retire, following eight years of rebuilding and repositioning this storied institution, I am convinced that with the excellent management team and a clear strategy in place, Union Bank is well-positioned to continue to compete and deliver value to its shareholders.”

Dividend recommended

In the period under consideration, Union Bank recommended the payment of 25 kobo as a dividend and this has spurred interest in the company’s equities at the stock market.

CFO speaks

In his reaction to the results, the Chief Financial Officer of Union Bank, Mr Joe Mbulu, expressed satisfaction with the “top and bottom-line performance in 2020, in light of the impact of the pandemic and economic challenges.”

According to him, “Significant inflationary pressures and the translation of currency depreciation drove growth in our cost base.

“However, we maintained strong control, limiting operating expense increase to 10 per cent (N77.9 billion from N70.8 billion), well below the rate of inflation. Consequently, we saw a marginal increase in our cost to income ratio to 75.4 per cent from 74.1 per cent.

“Our customer deposits hit a milestone during the year, crossing the N1 trillion mark to N1.131 trillion from N886.3 billion in FY 2019, an increase of 27.1 per cent.

“Low-cost deposits were up by 17 per cent, constituting 68 per cent of total deposits helping to push the cost of funds down by 1.4 per cent.

“We continued to proactively manage our growing risk asset portfolio and recorded better asset quality, with our NPL ratio improving from 5.8 per cent to 4.0 per cent. This achievement, combined with solid capital adequacy at 17.5 per cent and continued top-line growth, provides the platform for strong growth going forward.

“We will continue to grow our loan portfolio in 2021, which we expect to be a significant driver of growth, combined with our value chain synergies across our business which will drive customer and transaction growth during the year and beyond.

“Our UBUK subsidiary remains classified as Available for Sale as the sale process continues albeit delayed due to the pandemic-induced lockdowns.”

Economy

Xenergi in Talks to Acquire 51% Stake in Premier Paints

Published

5 hours ago

17/12/2025

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

One of the paint makers in Nigeria, Premier Paints Plc, is currently in talks with a new investor, Xenergi Limited, for the purchase of 51 per cent stake in the company.

Xenergi Limited intends to acquire shares of Clover Global Resources Limited and TGHL Capital Limited in the organisation.

Business Post gathered that the new investor will buy 39.02 per cent from Clover Global Resources Limited and 15.20 per cent from TGHL Capital Limited.

The deal, according to a regulatory notice issued on Tuesday on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, will involve about 63 million shares of Premier Paints.

At the current share price of the paint producer, this should be about N630 million as it closed at N10.00 per unit on NGX on December 16, 2025.

“Subject to obtaining required regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close before January 31, 2026.

“The company will continue to inform the public of the progress of the transaction,” the disclosure signed by the company secretary, Alozie Nwokoro, said.

Economy

Naira Trades Flat Across FX Market Windows as CBN Moves to Ease Pressure

Published

7 hours ago

17/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira was flat against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, December 16, retaining the previous closing value of N1,451.82/$1.

In the same vein, the local currency saw no movement against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market during the session at N1,943.98/£1 and N1,705.74/€1, respectively.

Also, the Nigerian Naira remained unchanged in the black market yesterday at N1,475/$1 and was N1,460/$1 at the GTBank forex counter.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has strengthened US Dollar supply with $250 million to authorised dealer banks at the official window cumulatively as foreign portfolio investors, exporters and non-bank corporate supply dripped.

The spread between official and other non-regulated markets decreased to N30.59$/1 from N44.57/$1, from the previous week, research subsidiary of Coronation Merchant Bank Limited said in a report.

FX analysts said foreign exchange inflows through the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market decreased to $716.3 million from $844.70 million in the previous week , a 15 per cent drop in a week.

Foreign portfolio investors accounted for the highest share of inflows at 32.98 per cent, followed by exporters at 30.84 per cent, the CBN (17.36 per cent), Non-bank Corporates (16.94 per cent), others (0.72 per cent) and Individuals (0.63 per cent).

On Monday, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 14.45 per cent in November 2025, down from 16.05 per cent recorded in October, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), representing a decrease of 1.6 percentage points month-on-month and marks a significant moderation compared to the same period last year.

As for the cryptocurrency market, there was some recoveries after overall capitalization falling below $3 trillion for the third time in a month. Large-cap assets, particularly those with Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) exposure, are experiencing selling pressure as institutional investors reassess risk.

Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 1.5 per cent to $1.92, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 1.5 per cent to $78.91, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.8 per cent to $0.1308, Solana (SOL) went up by 0.4 per cent to $127.60, Binance Coin (BNB) grew by 0.3 per cent to $865.40, and Bitcoin (BTC) gained 0.2 per cent to sell at $86,735.17.

On the flip side, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 1.0 per cent to $0.3802 and Ethereum (ETH) slumped by 0.4 per cent to $2,935.85, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were flat at $1.00 each.

Economy

Stock Investors’ Portfolios Swell N14bn as Index Rises 0.01%

Published

7 hours ago

17/12/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

A marginal 0.01 per cent rise was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday. This was different from the flattish mode of the market the previous day.

Investor sentiment remained bullish as Customs Street finished with 31 price gainers and 26 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index.

Aluminium Extrusion topped the gainers’ log after it improved its price by 10.00 per cent to N9.35, Guinness Nigeria appreciated by 9.98 per cent to N263.40, Multiverse expanded by 9.95 per cent to N12.15, MeCure Industries also soared by 9.95 per cent to N45.85, and Sovereign Trust Insurance advanced by 9.89 per cent to N4.11.

Conversely, Haldane McCall led the losers’ chart after it shed 9.93 per cent to settle at N3.72, Veritas Kapital lost 9.09 per cent to close at N1.60, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank also declined by 9.09 per cent to N3.50, and Linkage Assurance depreciated by 5.71 per cent to N1.65.

During the trading day, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 21.23 points to 149,459.11 points from the previous day’s 149,437.88 points and the market capitalisation increased by N14 billion to N95.281 trillion from N95.267 trillion.

Yesterday, traders transacted 1.0 billion equities for N21.8 billion in 23,701 deals compared with the 553.1 million equities valued at N13.3 billion traded in 28,907 deals on Monday, representing a decline in the number of deals by 18.01 per cent, and a surge in the trading volume and value by 80.80 per cent and 63.91 per cent apiece.

Access Holdings traded 385.8 million stocks worth N7.7 billion, Champion Breweries transacted 111.8 million shares valued at N817.8 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 85.5 million equities for N589.9 million, FCMB sold 74.7 million shares valued at N791.5 million, and First Holdco transacted 51.9 million equities worth N1.8 billion.