Union Bank targets improved deposit base, ROI

By Chioma Obinagwam

Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has said that part of its expectations for 2016 is to grow its deposit base, transactional income and client base.

Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Union Bank Plc, Mr. Emeka Emuwa disclosed this while addressing shareholders at the 47th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank held in Lagos recently.

He said:”We will continue to drive our business priorities, focusing on growing our deposit base, transactional income and client base. We are proactively managing our risks, reducing operational costs, effectively utilising capital and managing liquidity.”

This drive has already seen an 8 per cent growth to N570.64 billion in the bank’s Deposits from customers in its audited account for the financial year ended December 31, 2015 compared to the N527.62 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2014.

In the same vein, he promised to deliver sustainable value and increase returns on investment to all stakeholders.

He said the lender had embarked on strategic plans that would help boost its share price in the stock market and increase shareholders’ value.

Emuwa added that the bank is determined to enhancing it’s market perception and share of- mind with existing and target Speaking on the bank’s expectation for 2016, Emuwa said he was confident that the lender is well positioned to navigate the economic headwinds given its mapped out strategic priorities.

“From a growth and differentiation perspective, we will focus on trade and retail, growing our public sector business in light of the opportunities created by the new administration and as well as drive more value chain synergies across our businesses in Nigeria and the UK,” he said.

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The Union Bank boss noted that the company would leverage and foster innovation to drive long-term value creation for the bank by improving customer acquisition, retention and expansion.

Corroborating, the chairman of the bank, Cyril Odu, said in 2015, the lender consolidated its sustainability efforts across the nine Nigerian sustainable banking principles.

He said: “We acknowledge that our commitment to good stewardship stems from direct ownership of our actions as an organisation and ensuring we understand the direct impact these have on our environment.”

“We have implemented a more structured approach towards monitoring our Environmental and Social (E&S) footprint and have created detailed E&S risk processes, which govern how we conduct business. We have established new collaborative partnerships across the industry, with sustainability oriented organisations and reconfigured our governance framework to ensure we have the right level of engagement with all relevant stakeholders”.

Other financial highlights of the Bank indicated that it recorded N18.1 billion profit before tax for the full year ended December 31, 2015.

The results also showed the group’s profit after tax stood at N14.5 billion during the period under review. With 19 per cent Interest Income growth; asset yield improved from 14.9 per cent in 2014 to 16.4 per cent, buoyed by securities trading income.

Net Interest Income was also up 6 per cent to 53.8 billion from 50.6 billion in 2014. The group also recorded 84 per cent growth in E-business income, with almost 400 per cent increase in Point of Sale terminal fees and 134 per cent increase in card fees.