UBA delivers double digit growth as gross earnings crosses N600bn mark

United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) has announced its audited results for the full-year ended December 31, 2020, delivering a double digit growth in gross earnings of N620.4bn compared to N559.8 billion in 2019.

The 2020 audited financials filed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, showed that bank’s total assets also grew by 37.0 percent to N7.7 trillion for the year under review despite the challenging business environment during the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant effect on economies globally.

UBA’s Profit Before Tax was impressive at N131.9 billion, compared to N111.3 billion at the end of the 2019 financial year.  In the same vein, the Profit After Tax rose remarkably by 27.7 percent to N113.8 billion compared to N89.1 billion recorded at the end of the 2019 financial year.

UBA recorded a 24 percent growth (to N2.6 trillion) in loans to customers, whilst customer deposits increased by 48.1 percent to N5.7 trillion, compared to N3.8 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2019, reflecting increased customer confidence, enhanced customer experience, successes from the ongoing business transformation programme and the further deepening of its retail banking franchise.

On the cost side, Operating Expenses grew by 10.1 percent to N249.8 billion, as against N217.2 billion in 2019, well below average inflation rate of 13.2 per cent for the year, thus reflecting the bank’s cost effectiveness.

In its usual tradition of rewarding shareholders, the Bank proposed a final dividend of N0.35 kobo for every ordinary share of 50 kobo. 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 N0.52kobo as the bank had paid an interim dividend of N0.17 kobo earlier in the year.

Commenting on the result, the Group Managing Director/CEO, Kennedy Uzoka noted that the year 2020 was important for UBA Group, as it gained further market share in most of its countries of operation.

He said, “We ended a very challenging year on a reassuring note. The Bank recorded double-digit growth in both our top and bottom lines, as gross earnings and after-tax profit grew by 10.8% and 27.7% to N620.4billion and N113.8 billon respectively. Return on equity was 17.2%, even as our cost-to-income ratio moderated to 61.3%. Our earnings per share of N3.20 is a 26.8% growth from the preceding year, as we continue to ensure maximum value creation for our highly esteemed shareholders.