UBA records N90bn profit in Q3

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) has announced a growth in its gross earnings of N454.4 billion in the third quarter of 2020, rising from N428.7bn recorded in September, 2019, and recorded N90.4bn as its Profit Before Tax (PBT).

According to the report filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday, UBA reported that the PBT was higher by N8bn as it recorded N98.2bn in the 2019 period, and recorded N77.1bn as net profit, thus putting its annualised return on average equity at 16.4 per cent. Its operating income also improved by 10.4 per cent year-on-year to close at N293.7bn; up from N265.9bn achieved in the period of 2019.

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It said it continued to maintain a very strong balance sheet with total assets of N7.1tn, a 26 per cent increase over the N5.6tn as of December, 2019.

UBA said it benefitted largely from its technology-led initiatives targeted at improving customer experience over the past few years, as customer deposits leaped to N5.2tn from N3.8tn in 2019.

The shareholders’ fund remained very strong at N655.3bn; rising by 9.6 per cent from N598bn in 2019, reflecting a strong capacity for internal capital generation and growth.

The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (GMD/CEO) of UBA, Kennedy Uzoka, said, “Despite the current turbulence in the operating environment, occasioned by the pandemic, we have continued to record significant progress in our business segments.”

Uzoka said during the nine-month period, the bank provided support to customers across its footprints, assisting them to navigate the negative impact of the pandemic.

He explained that, “While the outlook for the rest of 2020 is expected to remain challenging, our diversified model provides sufficient resilience, enabling us to continue to delight our customers with innovative banking products within our robust risk management framework.”