UBA earns N132bn profit in 2020

United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) has announced its audited results for the full-year ended December 31, 2020, recording N132 billion profit.

According to a statement, the bank said despite the challenging business environment during the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank’s Profit Before Tax (PBT) was N131.9bn compared to N111.3bn earned in the 2019 financial year.

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The results filed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, showed that the bank’s gross earnings grew by 10.8 per cent to N620.4bn, compared to N559.8bn in 2019. The Bank’s total assets also grew by 37% to N7.7 trillion in 2020.

Its Profit After Tax (PAT) rose by 27.7% to N113.8bn compared to N89.1bn in 2019. Its operating expenses grew by 10.1% to N249.8bn, as against N217.2bn in 2019, well below the average inflation rate of 13.2 per cent for the year, thus reflecting the bank’s cost-effectiveness, it noted.

The bank has also proposed a final dividend of N0.35 kobo for every ordinary share of 50 kobo subject to the affirmation of the shareholders at its Annual General Meeting, bringing it to N0.52 kobo as it had paid an interim dividend of N0.17 kobo earlier.

The bank also grew its loans to customers by 24% to N2.6tr whilst customer deposits rose by 48.1% to N5.7tr, higher than the N3.8tr recorded in 2019.

The Group Managing Director/CEO, Kennedy Uzoka, said, “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.”

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.”

The Group Chief Financial Official, Ugo Nwaghodoh said, “We have prudently stepped-up our reserves for loan impairments, hence the 37.4% growth to N22.4bn, implying a 0.9% cost of risk.”