The Group Managing Director/CEO of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Kennedy Uzoka, says the quality of the bank’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.
Uzoka who disclosed this while reacting to UBA’s audited results for the full year ended December 31, 2021 recently released, said the current performance highlights UBA’s relentless customer focus, and leverage on its key strategic levers – People, Process and Technology.
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.
READ ALSO: UBA reviews Naira limits for international transactions
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 programme 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.
Uzoka said the year 2021 could 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.
READ ALSO: Investors of FBN, UBA, 3 other banks lose N8bn as market cap declines
UBA’s Group Chief Financial Official, Ugo Nwaghodoh, who corroborated the GMD’s comments, said, once again, the bank has shown resilience. It achieved sizable growth and strengthened its balance sheet despite the slow pace of economic recovery that characterised the year 2021.
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.”