recording impressive growth across top and bottom lines.
According to the 2019 financials filed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange
(NSE) on Friday February 28, 2020, the Africa’s global bank’s gross
earnings grew by 13.3 percent to N559.8 billion, compared to N494.0
billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2018. The Bank’s total
assets also grew significantly by 15.1 percent to an unprecedented N5.6
trillion for the year under review. This is the first time the Bank’s
gross earnings and assets will respectively cross the N500billion and
N5trillion marks.
Notwithstanding the challenging business environment in Nigeria, the
Bank’s Profit Before Tax was impressive at N111.3 billion, compared to
N106.8 billion at the end of the 2018 financial year. Furthermore, the
Profit After Tax rose by 13.3 percent to N89.1 billion compared to N78.6
billion recorded in 2018. On the cost side, Operating Expenses grew by
10.1 percent to N217.2 billion, as against N197.3 billion in 2018, well
below average inflation rate within the period, a reflection of cost
efficiency gains.
These results depict the Bank’s deepening of its Pan-African business
strategy, given the growth in the contribution of its 19 African
subsidiaries to the Group’s net earnings and total assets. Ex-Nigeria
Operations’ contributed 46% to the Group’s Profit Before Tax(PBT) in the
year under review.
In addition, UBA has been deploying innovative lifestyle products to
expand its market share across Sub-Saharan Africa, leveraging its
presence in the United Kingdom, United States of America and France, to
build a true Africa’s Global Bank, facilitating trade and capital flows
between Africa and the rest of the world.
In its tradition of rewarding shareholders, the Bank proposed a final
dividend of 80 kobo for every ordinary share of 50 kobo for the
financial year ended December 31, 2019. The final dividend which is
subject to the affirmation of the shareholders at its Annual General
Meeting will bring the total dividend for the year to N1.00, as the Bank
had paid an interim dividend of 20 kobo earlier in the year.
UBA recorded a remarkable 20.2 percent growth (to N2.1 trillion) in
loans to customers, whilst customer deposits increased by 14.4 percent
to N3.8 trillion, compared to N3.3 trillion recorded in the
corresponding period of 2018. This reflects increased customer
confidence, enhanced customer experience, early wins from the ongoing
business transformation programme and the deepening of its retail
banking franchise.
Commenting on the result, the Group Managing Director/CEO, Kennedy Uzoka
noted that the year 2019 was important for UBA Group, as it gained
further market share in most of its countries of operation.
“The year 2019 was a very remarkable one for UBA given the adverse
market developments. Nonetheless, we achieved sizable growth in balance
sheet and earnings, even as we reposition the Bank for the future. Gross
earnings crossed the N500 billion threshold to N559billion, whilst total
assets also crossed the N5 trillion mark for the first time to
N5.6trillion. Our strategy remains centred around unparalleled service
to our esteemed customers. Accordingly, we are making significant
investments in a technology-driven transformation journey. We have
recorded early gains as shown in the 39% growth in electronic banking
income to N38.8bn in 2019 from N27.9bn in 2018. Our businesses are
gaining commendable share in their markets across regions in Africa, as
we deepen the scale and scope of our operations.”
Continuing, Uzoka said; “I am indeed excited about the synergy we have
built within the UBA Group and the significant progress we have made in
our transformation drive. We have positioned the Bank as a truly
pan-African banking franchise, leveraging our operations in France, the
UK and the USA, to deepen intra-African trade, and facilitate capital
flows between Africa and the rest of the world. In 2020, we will pursue
aggressive deepening of market share in all our subsidiaries, leveraging
technology, rich human resources and our customer-first strategy to win
in all the markets we operate, notwithstanding the challenges of our
operating environment”.
Also speaking on the performance, the Group CFO, Ugo Nwaghodoh
emphasized that the Bank well-positioned to sustain impressive
performance across key financial indices, adding that already, some of
its previous investment in digital and technological transformation is
already paying off significantly.
“We navigated the fragile yield environment in our largest market, to
deliver an 8% growth in net interest income to N221.9billion. This was
bolstered by a 7.8% and 13.9% growth in interest income from corporate
loans and investment securities respectively, as well as a 4.0% cost of
funds driven by our stable retail deposits. Resulting from cost
efficiency gains within the year, cost-to-income ratio moderated to
62.7% (64% in 2018), whilst profit for the year grew 13.3%, to
N89.1billion, translating to 16.2% return on average equity (RoAE),”
Nwaghodoh said.
United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial
institution, offering diverse banking and payments services to more than
eighteen (18) million customers, across 1,000 business offices and
customer touch points in 20 African countries. With presence in New
York, London and Paris, UBA is connecting people and businesses across
Africa through retail, commercial and corporate banking, innovative
cross-border payments and remittances, trade finance and ancillary
banking services.