United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has achieved N300.6 billion gross earnings in its audited financial results for half-year ended June 30, 2020. The result is higher than N294 billion recorded in the same period of last year.
The result grew across key performance indices, and with increased contribution from its African subsidiaries. According to its results filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the Group recorded N2.2 trillion in net loans to customers, representing a 6.1 per cent growth, while customer deposits rose by 25.2 per cent to N4.8 trillion.
Net interest income grew by 8.4 per cent to N119.3 billion, whilst net fee and commission income stood at N38.6 billion representing a seven per cent increase compared to the similar period in 2019.
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As at June 30, 2020, the bank’s total assets exceeded the N6 trillion as it leaped to N6.8 trillion. Operating income also grew by 7.7 per cent to N197.1 billion compared to N182.9 billion while profit before tax stood at N57.1 billion from N70.3 billion in 2019, yielding a 14.4 per cent annualised return on average equity.
The bank’s Shareholders’ Funds remained strong at N634.7 billion up from N597.9 billion in December 2019, driven by growth in retained earnings, a reflection of UBA’s capacity for business growth. In line with its culture of paying both interim and final cash dividend, the Board of Directors of UBA Plc declared an interim dividend of N0.17 per share for every ordinary share of N0.50 each held by its shareholders.
Commenting on the results, UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Kennedy Uzoka said “Our 2020 first half results is yet another demonstration of the resilience of our business model in an extremely uncertain and tough operating environment. We recorded commendable growth in our underlying business in terms of customer acquisition, transaction volumes and balance sheet whilst inflation, depressed yield environment and exchange rate volatilities impacted our net earnings as anticipated”.
He further stated, “Despite the short-term challenges to various economic sectors occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, we focused on the fundamentals of businesses in growth-driving sectors of various economies in which we operate and achieved 6.4% growth in gross loan to customers, reaching the N2.3trillion mark. The Group achieved N114.3 billion (a 10 per cent YoY growth) in interest income from loans and advances to customers, as well as credit related fees and commissions.
Uzoka explained that notwithstanding the lock-down in a number of countries and the general lull in several economic sectors, UBA’s banking channels remained open to customers ‘24/7’, adding that “Fortunately, we had proactively built robust electronic channel platforms to enable us serve customers efficiently, and deliver services to them in the comfort of their homes. Notably, we are adjusting our operating model in response to the ‘new normal’ and will continue to optimise the way we work and serve customers in the days ahead.”
Also speaking on the results, UBA’s Group CFO, Ugo Nwaghodoh said “Our H1 2020 results reflects the inherent benefits of diversification as we have seen marked growth in contribution from the subsidiaries across Africa. Our Rest-of-Africa operations have continued to break new grounds in market share gains, providing a buffer for Group earnings.
 Plc has achieved N300.6 billion gross earnings in its audited financial results for half-year ended June 30, 2020){kind=link}