United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has announced N490.3 billion gross earnings in its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2021.
The bank recorded growth across all its major indices, replicating the commendable performance it achieved in the first two quarters of the current fiscal year.
The company’s financials show that the bank’s Gross Earnings rose to N490.3 billion, up from N454.4 billion recorded in September 2020, while operating income grew by 13% year-on-year to close at N331.7 billion as at September 2021, up from N293.7 billion achieved a year earlier.
In the report filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, UBA reported a 37% rise in Profit Before Tax to close at N123.4 billion compared to N90.4 billion recorded at the end of the third quarter of 2020, while profit after tax rose significantly by 36% to N104.6 billion up from N77.1 billion recorded a year earlier, thus putting its annualised return on average equity for Q3 2021 at 19.2% compared to 16.4% recorded in the similar period of 2020.
UBA continues to maintain a very strong balance sheet, with Total Assets of N8.3 trillion, an 8% increase over the N7.7 trillion recorded at the end of December 2020, just as the bank benefitted largely from its technology-led initiatives targeted at improving customer experience over the past few years, with Customer Deposits rising to N6.1trillion, representing a 7.2% increase from N5.7 trillion at the end of the last financial year.
The shareholders’ funds remained very strong at N798.3 billion up by 10.3% from N724.1 billion recorded in December 2020, thus reflecting a strong capacity for internal capital generation and growth.
Commenting on the results, the Group Managing Director/CEO, UBA Plc, Kennedy Uzoka, said, “Once again, the bank has shown resilience in delivering on its commitment to shareholders, stakeholders, and the investing public, evident in the strong positive financial metrics recorded in the reporting period.
“Particularly, gross earning was up 8% to N490.3 billion in the nine-month period, mirroring the improvements seen in both the domestic and international economies as countries roll out vaccines, helping to return economic activities nearer to pre-pandemic levels.
“Similarly, our profit before tax was up by a record 37% to N123.4 billion, with an annualised RoAE of 19.2%, showing our renewed commitment to creating more value for our shareholders,” Uzoka explained.
The GMD pointed out that UBA’s prudent approach to risk management and the efficacy of its digital-first customer-centric business strategy, helped in keeping loan growth steady at double-digit, while still being able to moderate its cost in the period, adding that: “Through the help of our digital-first strategy, we were able to increase the number of our agent network in the period by over 140%, increasing our controlling stake in the market.”