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  • At UBA, Customer Satisfaction Remains our Number one Priority – Uzoka

    At UBA, Customer Satisfaction Remains our Number one Priority – Uzoka

    The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Kennedy Uzoka, has said that the main priority for every staff in the bank is to always ensure customer satisfaction.

    This, he said, is crucial for every forward-thinking organisation such as UBA, as the customer remains the undisputed employer.

    In a message to all staff to mark the commemoration of the 2021 edition of the Customer Service Week, Uzoka took time to appreciate the staff who have worked tirelessly towards satisfying their customers; and urged them not to rest on their oars.

    The Customer Service Week, which is celebrated annually all over the world, recognises the importance of customer service and seeks to show appreciation to the staff who serve and support customers with the highest degree of care and professionalism.

    The theme for this year’s celebrations is ‘The Power of Service’ and underscores the bank’s persistent determination to provide service to customers despite the global pandemic. It also serves as an opportunity to acknowledge the vital role of service in any organisation.

    While emphasising the need for continuous excellent service delivery to customers, he said that UBA has in the last few years embarked on a journey to ensure Excellence, Enterprise, and Execution which is achievable when an institution focuses primarily on satisfying its customers.

    He said, “As we continue our journey to becoming Africa’s Global Bank, I would like us to recommit ourselves to the service of our customers, bearing in mind that they are indeed our Undisputed Employer!

    “I applaud those of you who have consistently dedicated yourselves to providing our customers with quality service that positions UBA as the bank of choice. You have indeed proven the strength of the UBA family!

    “As we celebrate this year’s Customer Service Week, I would like to urge you to be consistent in ensuring that the customer is satisfied at every point. Let us continue to deliver the best banking experience to our customers in line with the ideals of Customer-First Philosophy,” Uzoka stated.

  • Nigeria @ 61: Sen. Uba calls for collective resolve against forces of destruction

    Nigeria @ 61: Sen. Uba calls for collective resolve against forces of destruction

    Senator Andy Uba, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the coming Anambra State governorship election, has called for peace, unity and a “collective fight against forces of destruction and bloodletting, previously unknown to our society, but shockingly taking over our dear state, Anambra.”

    According to a statement issued by Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, director, Media and Publicity of his campaign, Senator made the call in his Independence Day message to the people of Anambra State, on October 1, 2021, as Nigeria marks its 61st Independence anniversary.

    According to Uba, “What we are witnessing in our state in recent times is strange, an aberration, which is unacceptable. Violence and destruction is not who we are as a people. Killing a fellow human being is a taboo in our culture. Anambra is a peaceful, convivial state. This justifies its nickname ‘The Light of the Nation’. We should not allow our light to lose its rich illuminating presence on account of politics or any other interest.

    “We should stand together to denounce, resist and chase this ugly monster away from Anambra. This independence celebration presents us with a unique opportunity to pursue our own independence in Anambra. Independence from violent crimes. Independence from stagnated progress and hopelessness. Independence from poor governance culture and political timidity. And most importantly, independence from leadership failure that has sadly made Anambra a bad example in different fronts.

    “I wish to state with pride that Anambra has overtime, made Igboland and Nigeria proud by the uncommon exhibition of excellence in leadership by our forebears. And It is my desire that we do not regress further, but rather retrace our steps to the path of greatness to ensure that Anambra excels and make its hardworking people proud again – just like our great visionary forebears did in the past.

    “May I remind you that our dear state, Anambra, ‘The Light of the Nation’, is truly blessed in every sense of the word. Rich in culture, fertile for agriculture and populated with people of great ingenuity in commerce, literature, science, sports, leadership and entrepreneurship. The tonic we need to soar is responsible leadership. And if our forebears lifted this flag of leadership excellence at the national level in the past – even before Nigeria’s independence – we can do the same, with a collective resolve to say no to mediocrity.

    “We won’t forget in a hurry the contributions of our great leaders from Anambra in securing Nigeria’s flag independence in 1960.
    For instance, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dr. Akwaeke Nwafor-Orizu, both at different times President of the country and Senate President, respectively. I salute also the late M.C.K Ajuluchukwu, Mbazulike Amaechi, Igwe Osita Agwuna and Dr. Okechukwu Ikejiani, among others, who at the time sustained the fire for Nigeria’s nationalism.

    “I also salute the people’s General, Ikemba Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, for his leadership and sacrifices for our people. My respect also for the then administrator for the East Central State, late Ukpabi Asika, from Onitsha.

    “Also, in the Second Republic, we remember and salute the candour of Vice President Dr. Alex Ekwueme, from our dear state and Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, erstwhile Speaker of the House of Representatives. We will always remember with fondness our own charismatic Oyi, late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, from Ogbunike, who was also a former Senate President.

    “Anambra has always been a state of people of character, ideas and front-row leadership. We are not known for irresponsibility, violence, leadership failure or negative examples. Let us, therefore, extricate our state from these negative tendencies, by declaring our independence from them. Happy Independence and may Anambra progress.

    Signed: Hon. Victor Afam Ogene
    for, and on behalf of the Senator Andy Uba
    Governorship Campaign Organisation, SAUGCO

  • UBA posts N76.2bn profit for H1 2021

    UBA posts N76.2bn profit for H1 2021

    The Mr. Tony Elumleu and Mr. Kennedy Uzoka led United Bank for Africa, UBA, is soaring higher, posts N76.2 billion gross profit in the first half of 2021 ended June 30, recording growth across all major income lines and performance indicators.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports the pan African financial institution delivered a 33.4 percent appreciation in its profit before tax which rose to N76.2bn from N57.1bn recorded in the same period of 2020.

    It translated to an annualised Return on Average Equity of 17.5% as against 14.4% a year earlier.

    According to a statement from the bank yesterday, the results filed with the Nigerian Exchange, showed that the Group’s profit after tax stood at N60.6bn representing a significant rise by 36.3% compared to N44.4bn recorded in the half year of 2020, while gross earnings grew to N316bn from N300.6bn as at June 2020; a 5% growth.

    As at June 30, 2021, the Group’s Total Assets crossed the N8tn mark as it soared to N8.3tr up from N7.7tr at the end of the 2020 financial year. Customer Deposits also crossed the N6tr mark growing by 7.4% to N6.1tr in the period under consideration, compared to N5.7tr as at December 2020.

    UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, said, “This has been a strong first half for us, as global economic recovery exceeded expectations, creating a positive rub-off on consumer and corporate confidence, savings and investment activities.”

    UBA’s Group Chief Financial Officer, Ugo Nwaghodoh, said, “Capital position remained strong, with a capital adequacy and liquidity ratios of 23.9% (22.4% in 2020H1) and 58.3% (58.2% in 2020H1) respectively. This is robust enough to support our growth ambitions”.

  • Anambra 2021: New twist as two High Courts order INEC to recognise Soludo, Uba as APGA, PDP candidates

    Anambra 2021: New twist as two High Courts order INEC to recognise Soludo, Uba as APGA, PDP candidates

    Two High Courts in Anambra have directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish the names of two governorship candidates for the November 6 election without further delay.

    They are: Senator Ugochukwu Uba of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Prof Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

    In their separate judgments on Monday in Awka, Justice Obiora Nwabunike, who presided over the case involving Uba, Valentine Ozigbo and the PDP, said the party erred by using what it called ‘Super delegates’ without vacating the Abuja Court order.

    “With the evidence before me and having heard from parties involved in the matter, I rule that Ugochukwu Uba is the duly elected candidate of PDP.

    “It’s not for nothing that court judges are called my lords. When a court makes a pronouncement, it must be obeyed no matter how foolish or ugly, it must be obeyed.

    “So, it was wrong for the PDP to go ahead to conduct the primary election at the Dora Akunyili Women’s Development Centre that produced Valentine Ozigbo, with what they called super delegates against a live judgement of a court without overturning the judgement.

    “That action cannot be vitiated or mitigated by the argument adduced by defence counsel that party primaries are internal affairs of political parties.

    “And I order that Ugochukwu Uba’s name should be enlisted by the INEC without further delay and the defendants should pay a cost of 10 million naira to the applicant,” Justice Nwabunike said

    Another High Court presided by Justice CC Okaa reinstated Prof Soludo as the APGA candidate and ordered INEC to publish his name immediately.

    The Court also ordered INEC to remove the name of Hon Chukwuma Umeoji already published and ordered him to stop parading himself as candidate of APGA.

    The court reaffirmed Victor Oye as the indisputable National chairman of APGA and ordered Edozie Njoku and Jude Okeke to stop parading themselves as National chairmen of APGA.

  • UBA, DEG Sign $50m Term Loan to Support Small Businesses in Nigeria

    UBA, DEG Sign $50m Term Loan to Support Small Businesses in Nigeria

    Pan African financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, and Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, the German Development Finance Institution, have entered into a partnership aimed at supporting small and medium scale businesses (SMEs) in Nigeria.

    To this end, both institutions have signed a USD 50m Term Facility Agreement. The facility with a tenor of six years is targeted at supporting SMEs and family owned businesses in Nigeria.

    UBA America’s Chief Executive Officer, Sola Yomi-Ajayi, who spoke about the partnership, said as a financial institution, UBA remains passionate about the growth of the private sector and small businesses which according to her, remains critical for any developing country. She noted that the passion to see this sector succeed is what led both organisations to collaborate on this laudable feat.

    Yomi-Ajayi, who is also the Global Head for Financial Institutions, Multilateral and Development Organizations, said, “At UBA Group, we are proud of this collaboration with DEG, particularly as it supports our financial intervention in the SME space, enabling financial inclusion, as well as facilitating economic empowerment.

    Continuing, she said, “These objectives remain core aspects of our strategy, particularly as regards to facilitating the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals on the African continent.”

    In his comments, DEG’s Regional Director for West Africa, Bernhard Tilemann, said, “DEG is delighted to enter into a long-term cooperation with UBA in Nigeria and the region. This cooperation will address the current economic challenges of the country while fostering private sector growth and impact in the largest economy of the continent.”

    According to Tilemann, the funding provided by DEG is partly supported by EB-SME Finance Fund Emerging Markets, while the fund’s adviser is a 100% subsidiary of Evangelische Bank (EB).

    The Regional Director noted that DEG has offices on the African continent in Lagos, Abidjan, Johannesburg and Nairobi; and pointed out that the move is a major milestone for DEG’s Regional Representative Office in Lagos which was opened in 2019.

  • Starting 2021 Strong, UBA Records 27% PAT Growth, 20.5% ROAE

    Starting 2021 Strong, UBA Records 27% PAT Growth, 20.5% ROAE

    Pan African financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has released its unaudited results for the first quarter ended March 31st, 2021, showing impressive double-digit growth across most of its major income lines.

    The bank leveraged on modest growth in both interest and non-interest income as well as increased efficiency to deliver an impressive 24% year-on-year growth in Profit Before Tax in the first three months of the 2021 financial year, to N40.6 billion compared with N32.7 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2020.

    Profit After Tax also grew by 26.8% from N30.1 billion in March 2020 to N38.2 billion in the period under review. Interestingly, UBA again sustained its strong profitability recording an annualised 20.5% Return on Average Equity (RoAE) compared to 19.9% in the same period of 2020.

    Driven by a year-on-year growth in interest income, UBA Group recorded another impressive 5.5% percent year-on-year growth in Gross Earnings to close at N155.4 billion for the three month period ending March 2021, compared to N147.2 billion recorded in the first three months of last year 2020.

    The bank’s total assets also rose by 2.5% to N7.9 trillion in the period under review, compared to N7.7 trillion recorded at the end of the 2020 financial year whilst shareholders’ funds grew to N762.4 billion up by 5.3% from N724.1 billion as at FY 2020.

    The Group Managing Director/CEO of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, expressed satisfaction with the Bank’s performance in the first quarter of 2021, stating that the result reflects UBA’s capacity to sustainably grow earnings even in a highly uncertain macroeconomic environment.

    He added that the robust capital and liquidity positions have positioned the bank as it continues to support its customers across diverse sectors and markets, guided by prudent risk management practices.

    “This impressive 2021Q1 results reflect the capacity of our business to sustainably grow earnings even in a highly uncertain macroeconomic environment. We remain upbeat on the macroeconomic outlook of the countries in which we operate, especially as the COVID-19 vaccine distribution gains traction globally, whilst commodity prices and currencies continue to stabilise. Our robust capital and liquidity positions have positioned us to continue to support our customers across diverse sectors and markets, guided by prudent risk management practices,” The GMD said.

    Uzoka pointed out the bank’s effort towards diligently executing its priorities for the year 2021, as it leverages people, process, and technology to deliver the best customer experience across all its channels and touchpoints, achieving industry leadership and dominance, adding, “The bank is making strong progress in Nigeria where our continuous market share and efficiency gains are translating into higher profits. We are committed to sustaining this strong start throughout the year, leveraging our customer-First (C-1st) philosophy and unparalleled execution to deliver even stronger returns to our esteemed shareholders in 2021 and beyond;” Uzoka said.

    Further breaking down the figures, UBA’s Group Chief Finance Officer, Ugo Nwaghodoh, said, “I am particularly pleased with our annualised return on average equity of 20.5% and return on average asset of 2.0%, as these indices buttress our commitment to delivering sustainable value to our stakeholders. We continued to deploy our balance sheet efficiency and digital-led cost optimisation initiatives to achieve desired outcomes. Cost-to-income ratio improved by 200bps to 60.4% during the period, whilst cost of funds settled at 2.0%, a 130bps reduction from 3.3% in 2020Q1.

    Nwaghodoh expressed confidence that the bank will meet and surpass its target for the remaining three quarters of the year, adding that, “We are confident on the strong prospect for earnings growth, particularly as we are better positioned to consolidate recent market share gains in Nigeria and other geographies where we operate. This result is a strong start for the year, and we are optimistic about sustaining the exciting performance throughout the year and beyond.”

  • UBA assures shareholders better times as assets hit N7.7trn

    UBA assures shareholders better times as assets hit N7.7trn

    United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc on Thursday assured its shareholders and investors of enhanced returns on investments in the coming months.

    This, the bank said, followed its establishment of a diversified business model that would ensure impressive performance.

    The Chairman, UBA Group, Mr Tony Elumelu, gave the assurance at the bank’s 59th Annual General Meeting for the 2020 financial year, in Lagos.

    Elumelu said the bank had made strategic decisions that would strengthen its resolve to earn the industry leadership that it had envisioned in Nigeria, Africa and globally.

    “We spearheaded strategic investments in our digital banking and technology platforms to further promote self-service banking; we have also focused on enhancing the capabilities of our people through various online capacity development programmes.

    “Our African operations (ex-Nigeria) have contributed approximately 55 per cent of our profits for the year, illustrating that we are truly a pan-African bank,” he said.

    The chairman said the bank remained committed to ensuring its viability amid an ever-changing business environment and to continue be a role model for African businesses by showcasing the best of Africa to the world.

    “The work we have done in strengthening our governance structures group-wide and in improving our business and operating models in 2020 positions our bank to benefit from these recovery trends and to achieve significant market share gains across our operations,” he said.

    At the end of the 2020 financial year, UBA’s profits grew remarkably by 27.7 per cent to N113.8 billion compared with N89.1 billion recorded at the end of the 2019 financial year.

    Profit before tax stood at N131.9 billion from N111.3 billion achieved at the comparative period of 2019.

    Gross earnings grew by 10.8 per cent to N620.4 billion against N559.8 billion recorded in the same period of 2019 whilst total assets also grew by 5.6 per cent to an unprecedented N7.7 trillion for the year under review.

    The bank proposed a final dividend of 35k for every ordinary share of 50k, bringing the total dividend for the year to 52k, having paid an interim dividend of 17k earlier in the year.

    Shareholders at the meeting commended the bank’s decision to plough back some of its profits into business consolidation.

    The present times, according to them, call for prudent and effective management of financial resources for all businesses, especially those with high shareholding rate such as UBA.

    One of the shareholders, Sir Sunny Nwosu, commended the board and management of the bank for keeping up with its activities, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its resultant effects on major businesses.

    He advised the company to gear up efforts to increase dividends in the next financial year, commending it for ensuring that the African subsidiaries performed well by contributing 55 per cent to the group’s business.

    Another shareholder, Mr Nonah Awoh, encouraged the management to boost other subsidiaries with the needed resources to help them perform better in the current financial year.

    Responding to the comments, UBA’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kennedy Uzoka, said the bank reduced dividend pay-out in order to be conservative to further strengthen the business.

    “As an institution that has been in operations for 72 uninterrupted years, UBA wants to continue to perform optimally.

    “In line with this, we have used most of our funds to prepare for unforeseen challenges.

    “Given the trajectory and the resilience of our business, we can assure you that we will meet and surpass the expectations of our shareholders.

    “We have recalibrated our business structure, starting from Lagos and extending to the South-South.

    ”We have bolstered them with the necessary leadership to achieve our aim. We believe that with these measures we have put in place, our Nigerian business will give the rest of Africa a good fight,” Uzoka said.

    United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than 21 million customers across over 1,000 business offices and customer touch points.

  • UBA America to Facilitate Investment, Development Capital, Trade Between North America and Africa, says CEO

    UBA America to Facilitate Investment, Development Capital, Trade Between North America and Africa, says CEO

    UBA America, the United States’ subsidiary of Pan African financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has pledged its continuous commitment to facilitate trade and investment between North America and the African continent.

    Speaking on Thursday from the Bank’s office in New York, the Chief Executive Officer, UBA America, Ms. Sola Yomi-Ajayi, disclosed that the bank’s major focus and strategy is to enable the flow of development capital, in line with its commitment to supporting companies achieve their aims of international trade between both continents.

    UBA America is the only sub-Saharan African bank licensed to operate a bank in the United States of America (USA) and armed with the fact that its parent company, UBA Group has operations in over 19 African countries and major financial capitals, continuously hinging on its pan-African strength and global connectivity to support African and international businesses.

    Speaking specifically on the subsidiaries’ activities and how UBA America has worked to solidify ease of operations of businesses, multinationals and parastatals in diaspora, Yomi-Ajayi explained that the bank ramped up its services and invested in necessary technology needed to propel business growth of these organisations.

    She said, “At UBA America, we deliver treasury, trade finance, and correspondent banking solutions to a broad range of customers, including Sovereign and central banks; Corporates, Financial institutions, Foundations and Multilateral and development organisations.

    “Overtime, we have leveraged our knowledge, capacity, and unique position as part of the international banking group – UBA Plc – as we seek to provide exceptional value to our customers around the world,” Yomi-Ajayi said.

    With its specific focus on being an enabler of international development organisations, she noted that UBA and indeed UBA America has been working with Corporate entities, financial institutions and development organisations on the continent, across the bank’s footprints, leveraging digital banking solutions to meet their needs.

    Continuing, she said, “Our focus viz-a-viz our presence in the US is to support American institutions that are operating in Africa. We work with these institutions to achieve their Corporate Goals on the continent, through the provision of innovative Trade, payments, correspondent banking and treasury solutions.

    It is no wonder therefore that UBA America’s CEO, Yomi-Ajayi who has headed the bank’s United States operations for several years, was appointed alongside 10 other members into the of United States Export-Import Bank (US EXIM) Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee. Among other activities, the committee is expected to advise the EXIM Board on the development and implementation of policies and programmes designed to promote its’s activities in sub-Saharan Africa.

  • AVON, UBA Partner on Bespoke Health Plans for Children

    AVON, UBA Partner on Bespoke Health Plans for Children

    Avon Healthcare Limited, a leading health management organisation has partnered with pan-African financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, to develop well-tailored and unique health plans for children.

     

    The collaboration to develop the new health plans became necessary due to the gap that exists in the area of child healthcare and both organisations have joined forces to change the narrative where children are usually not adequately insured while also ensuring the achievement of universal health coverage in Nigeria especially for the children.

     

    The new healthcare plan tagged the UBA Kiddies Health Plan has two variants: the UBA Kiddies Plus and Prestige which allows individuals with UBA Kiddies or UBA Teens account easy access to affordable healthcare services without paying out of their pocket.

     

    Specifically, this well-designed healthcare plan will allow Avon HMO to tap into an existing base of thousands of customers who have active UBA accounts or seek to open these accounts to enable them access great healthcare services.

     

    The Head of Retail Sales and Partnerships at Avon HMO, Dr Babajide Oyeduntan, who threw more light on this partnership, said this initiative, is in line with the organisation’s reputation for innovatively expanding healthcare access through strategic collaborations with forward-thinking companies.

     

    Oyeduntan said, “Over the years, we have launched a series of products in partnership with various entities with the overall aim of improving healthcare access. Only recently, we launched the Kaffy Health Plan for the entertainment industry, as well as bespoke health plans for women with Shecluded – a female-oriented financial services company. Therefore, the newly launched Kiddies Health Plan in partnership with UBA further emphasises our commitment to securing the health of our children and improving healthcare access for all Nigerians.”

     

    The Head, Personal Banking at UBA Group, Ogechi Altraide, said that UBA is excited to partner with Avon to give UBA customers the opportunity to enjoy access to dental care, eye tests/surgeries, back-to-school checks and many more, which she stated are part of the organisation’s promise to help its customers get more value from their loyalty to the bank.

     

    She said, “Despite their susceptibility to sickness, children remain one of the least insured in the country. Meanwhile, healthcare insurance is by far the most important predictor of whether children will receive much-needed health care. The launch of this new health plan is, therefore, an important milestone for us as we continue to put our customer first.”

     

    With less than five percent of the country’s population under any sort of heath cover, there remains a lot to be done to improve healthcare access. As such, these new products from Avon HMO and UBA are key signposts in the country’s journey towards achieving universal health coverage.

  • UBA Delivers Double-Digit Growth in Gross Earnings, as Profit Hits N132bn

    UBA Delivers Double-Digit Growth in Gross Earnings, as Profit Hits N132bn

    Pan-African financial institution, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) has announced its audited results for the full-year ended December 31, 2020, recording impressive growth across its top and bottom lines.

     

    The 2020 audited financials filed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, showed that bank’s gross earnings grew by 10.8 percent to N620.4 billion, compared to N559.8 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2019. The 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, the Bank’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.

     

    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.

     

    UBA recorded a remarkable 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.

     

    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.

     

    Continuing, Uzoka said, “Despite the tumultuous impact of Covid-19 pandemic globally and across our 23 countries of operation, we created N519.0 billion additional loans as we continued to support our customers and their businesses. Customer deposits grew 48.1% to N5.7 trillion, driven primarily by additional N1.8 trillion in retail deposits. As a global bank, we remain well capitalized and determined to successfully drive financial inclusion on the continent through our innovative products and vast network. Our capital adequacy and liquidity ratios came in at 22.4% and 44.3%, well above the respective regulatory minimum of 15.0% and 30.0%.

     

    Speaking on the bank’s strategy, he said, “Our primary strategy will continue to focus on providing excellent services from our customers’ standpoint, putting the customer first always. Looking ahead, I am inspired by the achievements we have made since the launch of our transformation programme. We have expanded market share considerably across the geographies where we operate and are consolidating our digital banking leadership in Africa. We will continue to leverage our diversified business model and dedicated workforce to further strengthen our position as ‘Africa’s Global Bank’.”

     

    Speaking on the performance, the Group Chief Financial Official, Ugo Nwaghodoh said, “The persistent low interest rate environment in 2020 exerted significant downward pressure on margins. Notwithstanding, our interest income for the year grew by 5.7% (to N427.9 billion), driven by 8.2% and 7.5% year-on-year growth on interest income on loans and investment securities respectively. Our interest expense declined by 8% (to N168.4billion) driven largely by a 34.2% decline in interest expense on customer deposits in our Nigerian operations, bringing down the Group’s cost of funds to 2.9%, from 4% in 2019.

     

    Nwaghodoh said, “We have prudently stepped-up our reserves for loan impairments, hence the 37.4% YoY growth to N22.4billion, implying a 0.9% cost of risk. These reserves provide adequate cover for impairments and should help minimise the need for further reserves in the current year, in view of the improving global operating environment. Our NPL ratio has declined to 4.7% (from 5.3% in 2019), driven by growth in the loan book, robust credit risk monitoring architecture, and payment of Past Due Obligations (PDOs).

     

    The CFO added that as Nigeria continues to see signs of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic led by resumption of economic activities across the globe, increase in consumer spending, and continued progress on vaccine deployment, UBA is well- positioned for greater synergy across the Group. “We remain committed to our prudent risk management practices, and optimistic of best value for our stakeholders in the days ahead,” he added.