UBA Boss Blames FG For Bank’s Marginal Profit

By Fola James

The managing director of the United Bank for Africa, UBA Kenneth Uzoka has blamed the economy for the marginal profit recorded by the commercial bank in the first three months of the year. The lender said in a statement that it made less than N8 billion Profit After Tax, PAT in the first quarter of the year, saying the bank would have performed better under a better economic outlook.

In spite of this, the chief executive of the Africa’s Global Bank, as UBA is widely known, said “We remain upbeat on the macroeconomic outlook of the countries in which we operate, especially as the COVID-19 vaccine distribution gains traction globally, whilst commodity prices and currencies continue to stabilize. Our robust capital and liquidity positions have positioned us to continue to support our customers across diverse sectors and markets, guided by prudent risk management practices.”

Uzoka said “the bank is making strong progress in Nigeria where our continuous market share and efficiency gains are translating into higher profits. We are committed to sustaining this strong start throughout the year, leveraging our customer-First (C-1st) philosophy and unparalleled execution to deliver even stronger returns to our esteemed shareholders in 2021 and beyond.”

According to the statement released by the by the bank, profit after tax, PAT stood at N38.2 billion in Q1 2021 compared to N30.1 billion in the first quarter of 2020, while N40.6 billion profit before tax, PBT was recorded within the last three months compared to N32.7 billion within the same period in 2020.

The bank also harps on  its “strong profitability recording an annualised 20.5% Return on Average Equity (RoAE) compared to 19.9% in the same period of 2020.”

“Driven by a year-on-year growth in interest income, UBA Group recorded another impressive 5.5% percent year-on-year growth in Gross Earnings to close at N155.4 billion for the three month period ending March 2021, compared to N147.2 billion recorded in the first three months of last year 2020.

“The bank’s total assets also rose by 2.5% to N7.9 trillion in the period under review, compared to N7.7 trillion recorded at the end of the 2020 financial year whilst shareholders’ funds grew to N762.4 billion up by 5.3% from N724.1 billion as at FY 2020.”

Meanwhile, the Group’s chief finance officer, Ugo Nwaghodoh said he was happy with the lender’s earnings because “I am particularly pleased with our annualised return on average equity of 20.5% and return on average asset of 2.0%, as these indices buttress our commitment to delivering sustainable value to our stakeholders.”