The United Bank for Africa Plc, the Pan-African financial institution, on
the weekend announced its audited 2018 financial results, which indicates
that the company recorded impressive growths achieved across major
financial lines in the year under review.
“We recorded a 48 percent year-on-year growth in retail deposits and
improved our CASA ratio to 77 percent, optimizing our funding mix, which
will enhance our net interest margin (NIM), over the medium term,” the
bank’s Group Managing Director/CEO, Kennedy Uzoka said, while commenting
on the result, which showed that the bank gained further market share in
many countries of operation.
“Defying the relatively weak economic growth in Africa, earnings were
positive and we grew our balance sheet by 20 percent, driven by the 23
percent growth in our deposit funding. In a period of economic
uncertainty, we have focused on retail deposit mobilization, with exciting
results,” Uzoka said.
It will be recalled that the bank started wholesale banking operations in
London, as it seeks to leverage the Group’s unique network across Africa,
while also opening its 20th African operation in the same year.
“Our operations in the United Kingdom now offer end-to-end trade,
treasury, structured finance, wholesale deposit taking and ancillary
services. With this development, we are better positioned to fulfill our
aspiration of deepening trade and capital flows between Europe and Africa.
We are also pleased with the market acceptance of our new operation in
Mali,” Uzoka added. The 2018 financials filed at the Nigerian Stock
Exchange shows that the Africa’s global bank’s gross earnings grew by 7.0
percent to N494.0 billion, compared to N461.6 billion recorded in the
corresponding period of 2017.
The Bank’s total assets also grew significantly by 19.7 percent to an
unprecedented N4.9 trillion for the year under review. These results,
according to financial analysts largely demonstrates the benefits of the
Group’s Pan-African footprints with continued growth in market share in
key countries of operation across Africa.
The contributions of ex-Nigeria subsidiaries at 40 percent, again confirms
the strong footing of the Group’s franchise in Africa. Despite the
challenging business environments in Nigeria and across key markets in
Africa, the Bank’s Profit Before Tax was quite impressive at N106.8
billion, a 2.4 percent growth, compared to N104.2 billion in 2017
financial year.
In same vein, the Profit After Tax rose by 1.4 percent to N78.6 billion,
compared to N77.5 billion recorded in 2017. Due to lower foreign exchange
trading income, Operating Expenses grew by 4.1 percent to N197.3 billion,
compared to N189.7 billion in 2017 The bank’s net loans recorded stood at
a prudent 3.9 percent growth to N1.72 trillion, while customer deposits
increased by as much as 22.5 percent to N3.3 trillion, compared to N2.7
trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2017; to reflect
increased customer confidence and enhanced service channels in the year
under review.
The Shareholders’ Funds decreased marginally by 4.8 percent to N502.6
billion, reflecting the impact of International Financial Reporting
Standards 9 (IFRS 9) implementation.
The bank’s CEO said he remained confident that UBA’s performance would be
stronger in the years ahead and shareholders would enjoy even greater
dividends, as the Group “is well positioned to take advantage of imminent
fiscal reforms across many economies in Africa, a positive outlook which
should stimulate new opportunities in infrastructure, manufacturing,
agriculture and resource sectors.
“I am excited by the profitability of our ex-Nigeria subsidiaries, which
now contributes an impressive 40 percent earnings to the Group. At the
moment, our Nigerian business is benefiting from our product and
operational focus, gaining market share – most importantly, the increasing
penetration of our retail offerings is reassuring, as this fundamental
progress aligns with our strategy of focusing on sustainable growth”.
“With great optimism, we look forward to a more rewarding 2019 for our
shareholders, as we further sweat our resources and optimize productivity
towards delivering superior returns,” he added.
Also speaking on the performance, the Group CFO, Ugo Nwaghodoh said that
the improving mix of the Bank’s funding base and asset pricing, reinforce
a positive outlook on Net Interest Margin(NIM) and broader balance sheet
efficiency.
“Whilst considerable investment in people, digital transformation and
channel enhancement masked cost efficiency gains within the year, with
cost-to-income ratio at 64 percent, we are convinced that our diligent
execution of new initiatives will ensure the reduction of Cost to Income
Ratio(CIR) towards our medium-term target. Our balance sheet is being
positioned to take full advantage of market swings and our strong 25
percent capital adequacy ratio provides headroom for growth, even under a
BASEL III scenario. As it stands, UBA has started the year on a good note
and should sustain the momentum, as we work towards improving our Return
on Average Equity (RoAE),” Nwaghodoh said.
United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading pan-African financial services
group, operating in 20 African countries, as well as the United Kingdom,
the United States of America and with presence in France.
UBA was incorporated in Nigeria as a limited liability company after
taking over the assets of the British and French Bank Limited who had been
operating in Nigeria since 1949.
The United Bank for Africa merged with Standard Trust Bank in 2005 and
from a single country operation founded in 1949 in Nigeria – Africa’s
largest economy – UBA has become one of the leading providers of banking
and other financial services on the African continent.
The Bank which was awarded the Best Digital Bank in Africa by the
Euromoney awards in 2018, provides services to over 17 million customers
globally, through one of the most diverse service channels in sub-Saharan
Africa, with over 1,000 branches and customer touch points and robust
online and mobile banking platforms. The shares of UBA are publicly traded
on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Bank has a well-diversified
shareholder base, which includes foreign and local institutional
investors, as well as individual shareholders.