UBA Grew Profit By 20.3% To N153bn In 2021

United Bank for Africa, UBA, Plc has said it recorded N153 billion profit for the full financial year ended December 31, 2021. This was disclosed in a statement, titled ‘UBA delivers N153 billion profit, records 11 per cent balance sheet growth’, and filed by the bank with the Nigerian Exchange Group.

The statement said, “Despite the huge challenging business and slow economic recovery in most of its countries of operations, UBA’s profit before tax was impressive with a 20.3 per cent growth to N153.1 billion, compared to N127.3 billion at the end of the 2020 financial year; while profit after tax rose grew by 8.7 per cent to N118.7 billion in 2021, compared to N109.2 billion recorded the previous year.”

“Similarly, net loans grew by 7.7 per cent growth to N2.8 trillion, while customer deposits rose by 12.2 per cent to N6.4 trillion, compared to N5.7 trillion in the corresponding period of 2020, reflecting increased customer confidence, enhanced customer experience, successes from the ongoing business transformation programme and the deepening of its retail banking franchise.”

The bank also disclosed that its gross earnings rose by seven per cent to N660.2billion as of the end of December 31, 2021, from N616.8 billion at the end of the 2020 financial year.

Its total assets grew by 11 per cent to N8.5trillion in the year under review, from N7.7trillion in 2020, marking the first time the bank’s assets would cross the N8trillion mark.

In the year under consideration, the bank’s operating income rose by 10 per cent to N443 billion compared to N403 billion in the prior year, while operating expenses closed the period at N279 billion.

The bank proposed a final dividend of 80 kobo for every ordinary share of 50 kobo for the financial year ended December 31, 2021.

“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 N1 as the bank had paid an interim dividend of 20kobo earlier in the year,” it stated.

Commenting on the result, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Kennedy Uzoka, said that notwithstanding the tight and challenging operating environment, UBA continues to deliver significant performance.

“The year 2021 can best be described as a year of global recovery; economies around the world began to witness early-stage recoveries, as supply chains recover from the devastating disruptions suffered in 2020,” he said.

UBA’s Group Chief Financial Official, Ugo Nwaghodoh, who corroborated the GMD’s comments, said, once again, the bank has shown resilience.

“It achieved sizeable growth and strengthened its balance sheet despite the slow pace of economic recovery that characterised the year 2021,” he said.