UBA Delivers N153 Billion Profit, Records 11% Balance Sheet Growth
Olushola Okunlade Writes
Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has announced its audited results for the full year ended December 31, 2021, reporting impressive performance in key financial metrics.
The 2021 financial result filed by the bank at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on March 4, 2022, showed that gross earnings rose significantly to N660.2 billion representing an increase of 7 percent compared to N616.8 billion recorded at the end of the 2020 financial year.
Total assets grew by 11 percent to an unprecedented N8.5 trillion in the year under review, up from N7.7 trillion in 2020, thus marking the first time the Bank’s assets will cross the N8 trillion mark.
Despite the huge challenging business and slow economic recovery in most of its countries of operations, UBA’s Profit Before Tax was impressive with a 20.3 percent growth to N153.1 billion, compared to N127.3 billion at the end of the 2020 financial year; while Profit After Tax rose grew by 8.7 percent to N118.7 billion in 2021, compared to N109.2 billion recorded the previous year.
Similarly, net loans grew by 7.7 percent growth to N2.8 trillion, whilst customer deposits rose by 12.2 percent to N6.4 trillion, compared to N5.7 trillion in the corresponding period of 2020, reflecting increased customer confidence, enhanced customer experience, successes from the ongoing business transformation program and the deepening of its retail banking franchise.
In the year under consideration, the bank’s operating income rose by 10% to N443 billion compared to N403 billion in the prior year, whereas operating expenses closed the period at N279 billion.
In its usual tradition of rewarding shareholders, the Bank proposed a final dividend of 80kobo for every ordinary share of 50kobo for the financial year ended December 31, 2021. 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 as the Bank had paid an interim dividend of 20kobo earlier in the year.
Commenting on the result, the Group Managing Director/CEO, Kennedy Uzoka, said that notwithstanding the tight and challenging operating environment, UBA continues to deliver significant performance.
He said, “The year 2021 can best be described as a year of global recovery; economies around the world began to witness early-stage recoveries, as supply chains recover from the devastating disruptions suffered in 2020.
Consequently, UBA recorded remarkable 7% growth in top-line to N660 billion (USD1.56bn), and profit before tax (PBT) of N153.1 billion, up 20.3% from the prior year. Net Loans and advances grew by 7.7% to N2.8 trillion with exposure mostly to resilient economic sectors including oil & gas, agriculture, and manufacturing. Deposit from customers grew 12.2%, crossing the N6 trillion mark, to N6.4trillion.”
The GMD explained that the quality of UBA’s portfolio, as well as the strength of the bank’s credit risk management frameworks and policies, remain the bedrock of the positive results that the bank has been recording over the years, adding that the current performance highlights UBA’s relentless customer focus, and leverage on its key strategic levers – People, Process and Technology.
“Looking forward, I am particularly excited about our ongoing Enterprise Transformation Program which is designed to enhance the bank’s process agility, service delivery, and customer experience. We are also making sizeable investments in cutting-edge technology and cyber security, to keep our innovative digital banking offerings above the curve, as we tool and re-tool our human resources to compete and win in a rapidly changing and evolving landscape. This will ensure the bank continues to achieve respectable top and bottom-line growth through the medium to long term” the GMD stated.
UBA’s Group Chief Financial Official, Ugo Nwaghodoh, who corroborated the GMD’s comments, said, once again, the bank has shown resilience. It achieved sizeable growth and strengthened its balance sheet despite the slow pace of economic recovery that characterized the year 2021.
“Through active and diligent assets and liabilities management, the bank was able to protect its net interest margin and achieved a downward moderation of Cost of funds (CoF) by 70 basis points to 2.2% from 2.9% in the prior year.
According to him, the group’s capital adequacy ratio at 24.9% was well above the required regulatory minimum and reflects a strong capacity for business growth. “The Group’s non-performing loan ratio improved further to 3.6% from 4.7% at the end of 2020. This testifies to the quality of UBA’s loan portfolio even as the bank remains relentless in its resolve to drive down the Cost-to-Income ratio, which stood at 63.0% at the end of the year.”
Nwaghodoh added that the bank achieved further strides in growing its business and gaining market share across its pan-African operations, with the region accounting for 63.2% of the Group’s profitability, compared to 55.4% in 2020; Loans and advances as well as Deposit in the region were also up 14.5% and 27.3% respectively from a year earlier.
In his concluding remarks, the CFO stated “We recognize the changing competitive landscape and are proactively positioning to consistently deliver on our strategic objectives and commitment to shareholders.”
United Bank for Africa Plc is Africa’s global bank, offering banking services to more than twenty-five million customers, across over 1,000 business offices and customer touchpoints in 20 African countries. With a presence in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and France and more recently the United Arab Emirates, 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.
Leading financial institution, Fidelity Bank Plc has recorded an impressive 204.4% growth in Profit Before Tax for the first half of 2023 to N76.3bn according to the bank’s recently issued financial result.
A review of the results published on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) on Friday, 1 September 2023, showed a positive performance across all financial indices, reaffirming the Bank’s position as one of the fastest-growing and well-managed financial institutions in Nigeria. Gross earnings for the period grew by 59.6% to ₦247.1billion from ₦154.8billion reported in June 2022. Profit After tax stood at ₦61.9billion representing a growth of 166.0% over ₦23.3billion recorded in the corresponding period. This translates to an Earning per Share of 194kobo. The Bank’s Net Loans & Advances grew by 25.1% from ₦2.1trillion recorded as of December 2022 to ₦2.6trillion in June 2023 with corresponding growth in Customer Deposits which increased by 23.2% to ₦3.2trillion from ₦2.6trillion in December 2022.
The Bank’s balance sheet remained strong with a 27.4% growth in Total Assets from ₦3.9trillion in December 2022 to ₦5.1trillion. The Bank’s non-performing loans remained low and within the regulatory threshold at 3.24% with adequate coverage of 111%. Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA) closed at 34.9% and 2.8% respectively.
On the back of the strong H1 2023 performance, the board of the bank approved an interim dividend of 25k per share making it the second consecutive year the bank would be paying interim dividends and another demonstration of its capacity to provide shareholders with sustainable value.
Commenting on the Bank’s laudable performance, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc noted, “We are pleased to report on another period of quality growth across all financial and non-financial indices. Our performance during the first half of the year reflects the resilience of our bank and the fundamental strength of our business to deliver long-term sustainable value at a time that has been characterized by global economic headwinds. As a bank, we remain committed to our goal of helping individuals to grow, inspiring businesses to thrive, and empowering economies to prosper.
The Bank’s impressive H1 2023 results come to join a string of recent achievements by Fidelity Bank. It would be recalled that the Bank’s stock was reclassified from small-price stock to medium-price stock by the NGX in July 2023 on the back of a consistently impressive performance.
Similarly, the bank recently emerged as the company with the highest earnings per share on the NGX based on half-year financial figures for the second year running.
To sustain this sterling performance, the bank’s shareholders, at an Extra-Ordinary General Meeting held on 11 August 2023, unanimously approved a capital raising exercise via a Public Offer and Rights Issue.
“We will continue to monitor and proactively manage the evolving risks in the economy while ensuring our commitments to our customers and shareholders are fulfilled. The interim dividend of 25kobo per share, a 150% increase compared to the 10kobo interim dividend in 2022FY, attests to the value we place on the unwavering support from our shareholders”, stated Onyeali-Ikpe.
Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged commercial bank operating in Nigeria with over 8 million customers serviced across its 250 business offices and digital banking channels. The bank was recently recognized as the Best SME Bank Nigeria at the 28th annual Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2023; and the Best SME Bank Nigeria 2022 by the Global Banking & Finance Awards. The bank has also won awards for the “Fastest Growing Bank” and “MSME & Entrepreneurship Financing Bank of the Year” at the 2021 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
As the summer break winds down, leading financial institution, Fidelity Bank Plc, has emphasised its devotion to help schools prepare adequately for the next session and deliver quality education.
Through its bespoke product known as the Fidelity Edu Loan, administrators of registered private primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in Nigeria can access loans of up to N180million.
In a chat with journalists, Divisional Head, Product Development, Fidelity Bank Plc, Osita Ede said, “At Fidelity Bank, we recognize the pivotal role quality education plays in the development of any nation and this informed our introduction of the Fidelity Edu Loan. Through the offering, privately-run educational institutions can access loans at a friendly rate for working capital needs like minor renovation on their school property, financing the purchase of school supplies like books, teaching materials, furniture or uniforms; and making salary payments.
“Similarly, schools can leverage the Fidelity Edu Loan to purchase fixed assets like school buses, generators and construct new school buildings.
To be eligible for the product, the requesting customer must have operated their educational institution for at least three years and should be duly registered with the relevant authorities.
“The Fidelity Edu Loan is part of our larger education finance proposition at Fidelity Bank as we aim to empower everyone within the education ecosystem, including the schools, parents, and contractors, with amazing financial and non-financial products and services.
For instance, we have the Fidelity Personal loan which provides instant loans of up to N5 million to employees of private and public organisations by simply dialing *770*08# from their mobile phones. This can become handy for paying school fees or meeting other personal needs”, explained Ede.
Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged commercial bank operating in Nigeria with over 8 million customers serviced across its 250 business offices and digital banking channels. The bank was recently recognized as the Best SME Bank Nigeria 2022 by the Global Banking & Finance Awards. The bank has also won awards for the “Fastest Growing Bank” and “MSME & Entrepreneurship Financing Bank of the Year” at the 2021 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
Martin Rohner, Director, Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GAVB) has visited LAPO Microfinance Bank, a member of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GAVB) and founding member of the GAVB- Africa Chapter.
Globally, the discussions on sustainable finance and climate change are on the front burner between State and Non-State actors. Energizing and leading this discourse are institutions and organized bodies such as LAPO MfB and GAVB. In 2019, LAPO MfB in partnership with GAVB organized the first-ever international sustainability conference themed “Enhancing Sustainable Finance in the Microfinance sub-sector” https://www.lapo-nigeria.org/Environmental-Social-Governance
Left-Right: Israel Aibuedefe, Executive Director, Business Support, Cynthia Ikponmwosa, MD, LAPO MfB, Martin Rohner, Executive Director, Global Alliance for Banking on Values, Faith Osazuwa-Ojo, Executive Director, Operations, LAPO Microfinance Bank.
In a statement released by the bank, Oluremi Akande, Director of Marketing and Communications, says, “Beyond Savings and Loans, LAPO MfB is deliberate about its social performance. In essence, the bank has carefully designed social components into its business operations, products, and services it provides, to ensure a positive impact on people, and the planet, and profit in the most sustainable manner.
Akande reiterates, “Our vision is to continue to deliver triple-bottom-line returns through our genuine commitment to the implementation of our various ESG mandates, partnerships, and advocacy programs aimed at improving the lives of members of low-income households, especially, women and children”.