By Abiola Olawale
The United Bank for Africa (UBA) has announced its financial results for the third quarter ending September 30, 2024, showing impressive growth in all key areas.
Similar to the earlier quarters of this year, the bank saw its total earnings jump by a remarkable 83.2%, reaching N2.398 trillion compared to N1.308 trillion during the same period last year. Additionally, the bank’s net interest income, which is the money it makes from loans after covering its expenses, increased significantly by 149%, totalling N1.103 trillion this quarter. This reflects the bank’s strong performance and commitment to growth.
This was contained in the bank’s financial report filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Monday.
The report also indicated a 20.2 per cent increase in Profit before Tax (PBT) to close at N603.48 billion compared to N502.09billion recorded at the end of the third quarter of 2023, while profit after tax also rose remarkably by 16.9 per cent from N449.26 billion recorded a year earlier to N525.31 billion in the period under review.
As in the preceding two quarters this year, UBA continues to maintain a very strong balance sheet, with Total Assets rising to N31.801 trillion, representing a 54.0 per cent increase over the N20.653 trillion recorded at the end of December 2023, just as the bank benefitted largely from its technology-led initiatives targeted at improving customer experience over the past few years, with Total Deposits rising to N26.50 trillion, representing a 52.7 per cent rise, up from N17.355 trillion at the end of the last financial year.
Reacting to the development, UBA’s Group Managing Director/CEO, Mr Oliver Alawuba, expressed his satisfaction that the Group continues to record strong and sustainable growth in its various revenue streams, building on its strong performance earlier in the year.
He said: “The UBA Group achieved a profit before tax of N603.5 billion and our intermediation business continues to show strong growth with net interest income expanding by 149 per cent YoY to N1.10trillion and NIM closing at 8.03 per cent, which is 17.60 per cent above the 2023 position, despite persisting macroeconomic headwinds, geopolitical tensions, insecurity, inflationary pressure and exchange rate volatilities across our markets.”
The Bank’s Executive Director, Finance & Risk, Ugo Nwaghodoh, said, “I am delighted at the milestone reached in driving operational efficiency, reflected in the cost-to-income ratio normalizing around the 50 per cent range. Shareholders’ funds recorded a 77 per cent growth from N2 trillion at FYE2023 to N3.59 trillion demonstrating the Group’s significant capacity for future growth.
On plans to consolidate its performance for the rest of the 2024 financial year and beyond, Nwaghodoh said, “We remain on track with various strategies to optimize our cost of funds and operating expenses. Furthermore, the Group has finalized plans to shore up its share capital to support its medium to long-term aspirations whilst aligning with the recent regulatory requirement in Nigeria and other jurisdictions.”
The New Diplomat reports that UBA is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than forty-five million customers, across 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries.
