United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc Group recorded ₦61.4billion as profit, or 47.5 percent growth in gross earnings, its unaudited results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023, has shown.
The Bank described as “remarkable growth across all its major income lines” the results released to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Thursday.
Details of the result showed that gross earnings rose from ₦183.9 billion to ₦271.2 billion, while interest income, which stood at ₦125.9 billion as at March 2022, grew by 53.4 percent to ₦191.9 billion in the quarter under review.
The results further revealed that operating income rose by 39.6 percent to ₦175.7 billion, as against ₦125.9 billion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2022.
Also, the Bank’s Profit Before Tax (PBT) rose significantly by 38.2 percent to ₦61.4 billion in the first quarter of the year, up from ₦44.5 billion recorded in the corresponding period of last year.
Similarly, the Bank’s profit after tax (PAT) jumped from ₦41.5 billion to ₦53.6 billion, representing a 29.1 percent increase.
In his reaction, UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, explained that despite the high inflationary, and challenging global environment, the bank was able to leverage the uptick in interest rates and improved digital offerings, in growing funded and non-funded income.
Alawuba was particularly excited at the growth in PBT, which he said helped to drive increased returns to shareholders, with a 22.6 percent Return on Average Equity (ROAE) compared to 19.7 percent recorded in December 2022.
“We have continued to record improved gains in our customer acquisition and retention strategies across our countries of presence, evident in the 10.5% growth in customer deposits to ₦8.6 trillion from ₦7.8 trillion at the end of 2022FY. This has enabled the Group to drive increased loan growth and interest income, with loans to customers at ₦3.6 trillion, representing a year-to-date(YTD) increase of 5%,” the CEO said.
“For 2023, we remain committed to improving the Group’s performance as we strategically position our entities to take advantage of emerging developments within their jurisdictions and across the globe. We will continue to deliver excellent rewards to our stakeholders,” Alawuba added.
The Executive Director, Finance and Risk, Ugo Nwaghodoh, said the Bank’s performance demonstrates the group’s resilience and commitment towards delivering value and enhancing the confidence of its customers, stakeholders and the wider public notwithstanding the competitive landscape and current global trend in the industry.
“The impressive performance of UBA Group in first quarter 2023 is hinged on its continuous improvement and growth in gross earnings and balance sheet size as gross earnings grew by 47.5% year-on-year to ₦271.2billion and total assets up by 4.6% to ₦11.4 trillion from ₦10.9 trillion as at December 2022, ” Nwaghodoh stated.
“The growth in gross earnings is on the strength of increase in both interest income and non-interest income while growth in total asset is attributable to increased deposits due to aggressive deposit mobilisation drive that resulted in a 10.5% growth in customer deposit in the first quarter,” he added.
