Q3 2022: UBA records 12.3% profit growth, declares N608bn in gross earnings

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Africa’s Global Bank, has released its unaudited financial results for the third quarter of 2022, ended September 30, recording impressive growth across all major indices.

The result follows on the trend of its remarkable performance in the first two quarters of the year.

Specifically, the bank said Gross Earnings rose to N608 billion, up from N493 billion recorded in September 2021, while Operating income also grew by 27.3% to close at N414.1 billion as at September 2022, up from N334.8 billion achieved a year earlier.

In its financial report filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), UBA reported a 12.3% rise in Profit Before Tax to close at N138.5 billion compared to N123.4 billion recorded at the end of the third quarter of 2021, while profit after tax also rose significantly by 10.9% to N116 billion up from N104.6 billion recorded a year earlier, thus sustaining its annualised return on average equity for Q3 2022 at 19.2%.

The bank continues to maintain a very strong balance sheet, with Total Assets rising to N9.3 trillion, representing a 9.1% increase over the N8.5 trillion recorded at the end of December 2021, just as it benefitted largely from its technology-led initiatives targeted at improving customer experience over the past few years, with Customer Deposits rising to N7.03 trillion, representing a 10.4% rise, up from N6.4 trillion at the end of the last financial year.

UBA shareholders’ funds remained very strong at N809 billion up from N805 billion recorded in December 2021, again reflecting a strong capacity for internal capital generation and growth.

Commenting on the result, UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Oliver Alawuba, said the Group continues to show notable operating resilience amid significant headwinds heightened by global risk environment, thanks to its strong diversification model and unwavering focus on customer satisfaction.

“We continue to reap the benefits of our diversification strategy and Customer-1st philosophy and build resilience in our operations across Africa and the Rest of the World to support the mission of providing superior value to our stakeholders.

“This has translated into strong financial gains evident in growth in our customer deposits and Net interest margin. In addition, we are strategically positioned to drive our market share in our operating countries, with the strong growth of our payments and transaction banking offerings,” Alawuba stated.

Executive Director, Finance & Risk Management, Ugo Nwaghodoh, said, “The Group’s profitability increased by 12.3% to N138.5 billion, with underlying growth in our key income lines and moderation in our cost of funds.

“We remain very cautious in risk asset creation as we defensively position our asset portfolios to minimise the impact of the heightened credit risk. Consequently, our NPL ratio remains within acceptable threshold at 3.2%.”