United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc on Thursday announced its audited 2015 half-year financial results showing profit before tax rising to 35.1% to N39 billion, while profit after tax was up by 40% to N32 billion for the period.
Phillips Oduoza, the bank’s group managing director and CEO, attributes this to a business strategy that has proved to be resilient “balancing prudence, with an ability to significantly grow bottom line and continue to focus on operating effectiveness” in spite of a challenging operating environment.
UBA’s earnings grew by 21% to N166.9 billion during the period, compared to N138.2 billion in the same period of June 2014.
The bank has announced the payment of an interim dividend of 20 kobo per share to its shareholders.
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Oduoza said: “We look forward to continuing to support our customers and working with them to achieve financial success for them and the wider Nigerian and African economies.”
The bank’s net operating income rose 21% to N108.7 billion in June 2015, compared to N90 billion in the comparable period of 2014. UBA’s operational efficiency is also on the positive, with a cost to income ratio of 64% as against 68% in the same period in 2014.
Oduoza explained: “We delivered strong growth of 21% in gross earnings and 40% in profit after tax, reflecting better extraction of value across all business segments and our ongoing process optimization. It was also satisfying to see our cost-to-income ratio decline further. We understand that many in Nigeria are facing difficult economic circumstances and we are very much shouldering our responsibility to support and grow wealth creation.”
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UBA maintained a healthy loan book with non-performing ratio at just 1.8% of total loans granted, described by the bank as one of the lowest in the banking industry.
The UBA Group is one of Africa’s leading financial institutions, operating in 19 African countries, as well as New York, London and Paris.
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