United Bank for Africa, Plc, increased its profit before tax, PBT, by 371 percent to N404 billion in the first half of 2023 from N85.75 billion in the first half of 2022.
The increase in profitability resulted in an annualised Return on Average Equity of 57.7%, up from 17.1% the previous year.
These were announced in the bank’s financial reports for H1’23, which were released to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) yesterday.
Among other things, the results demonstrated that the Group continued to make significant progress in boosting the contribution and market share of its subsidiaries in Africa and abroad.
Profit after tax (PAT) increased by 437.8 percent to N378.24 billion in H1’23 from H1’22.
Operating income increased by 206.6 percent to N783.96 billion in June 2023, up from N255.67 billion the previous year.
The Group increased its Gross Earnings by 164% to N981.78 billion in June 2023, up from N372.36 billion the previous year in June 2022.
Total Assets rose by 41.7 per cent to N15.38 trillion from N10.86 trillion recorded in H1’22.
Customer deposits increased by 42.4 percent to N11.14 trillion over the period under consideration, up from N7.8 trillion at the end of 2022.
Shareholders’ Funds grew to N1.712 trillion, demonstrating the Group’s excellent ability to generate internal capital.
Following the better performance and in keeping with the Group’s practice of paying both interim and final cash dividends, the Bank’s board of directors approved an interim dividend of $50,000 per share, representing a more than 150% increase over the prior year.
Mr. Oliver Alawuba, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of UBA, commented on the results, saying that the exceptional performance demonstrated the Group’s commitment to consistently deliver value to its shareholders; he added that the Group made progress in digital payments, retail penetration, and benefited from the effect of revaluation gains resulting from the harmonisation of foreign exchange rates at the various access windows in Nigeria.
He said: “The Group recorded strong double-digit growth in revenues and profits from its operations, the result also reflects the effect of sizeable revaluation gains, arising from the harmonization of currency exchange rates in Nigeria.
”Our reporting currency found a new exchange level at about N756 to 1US$ as of 30 June 2023, compared to N465 at the beginning of the year. The results again demonstrate the benefits of our long-held diversification strategy across Africa and globally. The growth of our international business, most recently in the UAE, only reinforces this earnings quality.
“Our business is on a steady growth trajectory, as we further strengthen our risk management traditions and practices necessary technology investments to deliver premium service to our customers.
”We have also continued to finance landmark projects in critical sectors of the economies across Africa, facilitating intra-Africa trade with our valuable offerings and provide a versatile last-mile distribution network for Africa-bound donor and multilateral agency funds.”
“The three core geographical pillars of our business (Nigeria, Rest of Africa and Rest of the World) are making strong contributions to the Group profit, further justifying our global strategy and business positioning across Africa, UAE, France, UK and USA, and demonstrating the benefits of positioning UBA as the financial intermediary for Africa and the rest of the world.” Alawuba said.
On the plans for the rest of the year, Alawuba said, “As we approach the last quarter of the year, the Group remains strategically positioned to sustain the strong performance, consolidating on H1 2023 results, to deliver superior returns to our esteemed shareholders.”
UBA’s Executive Director Finance & Risk, Ugo Nwaghodoh, said the half year 2023 financial numbers reflect an excellent performance across key metrics, as the bank diligently executes its strategic priorities.
“Our HY2023 financial numbers reflect excellent performance across key metrics, as we diligently execute our priorities for the year. Annualized return on average equity at 57.7per cent was bolstered by improved operating income and revaluation gains.” he explained. Nwaghodoh also pointed out that the Group maintains robust capital buffers to support business growth and loss absorbency. The Group’s shareholders’ funds stood at N1.7 trillion, with a capital adequacy ratio of 36.4 per cent.”
