United
Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has declared N18 billion in its profit
after tax for the unaudited 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
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