Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has released its quarter result for the first half of the year ended June 30, 2020. The result showed N11.3 billion profit before tax, which was higher than N11.2 billion in the first half 2019.
Gross earnings rose by 10 per cent to N79.9 billion as against N72.42 billion in the first half of 2029 driven by an increase in earning assets.
In a statement, the bank said interest income rose six per cent to N57.2 billion as against N53.8 billion also driven by increase in earning assets, while customer deposits rose 12 per cent to N995.2 billion as against N886.3 billion in December 2019, among other statistics.
The slowdown limited growth in key income lines including fees and commissions and cash recoveries. However, we continue to reinforce the use of our digital channels with 90 per cent of transactions completed digitally in first half 2020 as against 57 per cent in first half 2019), which translated to a 42 per cent growth in e-business fees from N2.5 billion in first half 2019 to N3.6 billion in first half of 2020.
“We deliberately grew our loan portfolio both in the retail and commercial/corporate banking space resulting in a six per cent growth in interest income.
Given the constrained operating environment, we continue to proactively monitor our loan portfolio and support our customers in line with the Central Bank’s guidance on forbearances. Nevertheless, growing our loan book remains a strategic focus area for us for the rest of the year as we continue to identify new opportunities emerging in the face of the pandemic,” the bank said.
Speaking on the H1 2020 numbers, Chief Financial Officer, Joe Mbulu said:“Our H1-2020 Bank numbers reflect the performance of our continuing operations1 for the period. Notwithstanding increasing inflation and unexpected costs related to the changes to our operating structures during COVID-19 lockdown, we have been able to keep operating expenses under control during H1 2020. This is indicative of the strength of our Long-Term Efficiency Acceleration Programme (LEAP) which continues to optimise key cost lines.
The continued expansion in the loan book led to enhanced interest income while lower Union Bank announced the sale of its UK Subsidiary Union Bank UK Plc in 2019 and as such UBUK has been classified as a discontinued operation interest rates enabled a reduction in interest expense.
