United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has declared N18 billion in its profit after tax for the unadited first quarter ended March 31, 2016.
The bank result released on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), yesterday showed that gross earnings stood at N74 billion for the three months ended March 2016.
The Group sustained its strong profitability, recording an annualized 20 per cent return on average equity (RoAE).
While commenting on the results, the GMD/CEO of UBA, Phillips Oduoza, said, “I am pleased to report yet another impressive performance for the period. In addition to achieving better pricing on our assets and liabilities, we leveraged enhanced service channels in growing transaction banking volumes and fee income.”
He explained that the bank recorded an impressive 12 per cent year-on-year growth in net interest income and sustained net operating income at N50 billion for the first three months of the year.
“I am particularly pleased with the increased contribution of the African subsidiaries, which represented 28 per cent of our Group’s top- and bottom- lines in the first quarter of the year”
He admitted that the first quarter has been challenging, with a host of macroeconomic pressures ranging from inflationary threats to fuel shortages; all of which impacted the business environment.
“We grew the loan book by a modest N13 billion or $65 million in the quarter and maintained our decent asset quality metrics, 1.7 per cent non-performing loans (NPL) ratio and 0.4% cost of risk,” Oduoza said.
He expressed hope that the implementation of the 2016 budget in Nigeria, the bank’s single largest market, will lead to improved economic activities and business opportunities.
Also, the Group CFO, Ugo Nwaghodoh in his explanation of the bank’s strong performance attributed it to efficiency gains from operations and sales.
“We effectively balanced our growth appetite with profitability, thus creating value. Year-to-date, we achieved a 40 basic points improvement in net interest margin (NIM), as we recorded a notable 50 basic points moderation in funding cost to 3.5 per cent,” Nwaghodoh explained.
Source: Leadership
