NIGERIA – The United Bank for Africa Plc has reported a rise of US$787 million in half year gross earning buoyed by growth across the bank’s key performance indices as well as increased contribution from its African subsidiaries.
The bank said in a statement that notwithstanding the challenging business and economic environment occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was able to deliver growth in its gross earnings.
“Our 2020H1 results is yet another demonstration of the resilience of our business model in an extremely uncertain and tough operating environment,” UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kennedy Uzoka, said.
The US$787 million was an improvement of the US$771.65 million record in the same period of 2019.
According to UBA’s audited financial results filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the recorded US$5.77 billion in net loans to customers, representing a 6.1 per cent growth even as deposits from customers increased by 25.2 per cent to US$12.60 billion.
Net interest income grew by 8.4 per cent to US$313.12 million, while net fee and commission income stood at US$101.31 million, representing a 7.0 per cent increase compared to the similar period in 2019.
Operating income also grew by 7.7 per cent to US$517.32 million from US$480.05 million, while profit before tax fell to US$149.87 million from US$184.51 million in 2019, yielding a 14.4 per cent annualised return on average equity.
The bank’s shareholders’ funds remained strong at US$1.66 billion, up from US$1.57 billion in December 2019, while total assets grew tremendously to stand at US$17.85 billion as at June 30, 2020.
United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) is listed as a commercial bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria and has subsidiaries in 20 African countries and offices in London, Paris and New York.
The London Office was launched early last year, making UBA the only Sub-Saharan African financial institution with banking operations in both the UK and the US.
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