UBA Profits Go Up By 24% in First Quarter

United Bank for Africa has released its financial report for the first quarter of 2021, and the company recorded a profit before tax of N40.6 billion. This is about N8 billion more than the N32.7 billion the bank recorded in the corresponding period last year, 2020.

In the unaudited results for the first quarter, UBA recorded an increase of about 24 percent in PBT to N40.6 billion, up from N32.7 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2020 while profit after tax also saw some growth of about 26.8 percent, to settle at N38.2 billion, a rise of about N8 billion from last year's N30.1 billion.

Driven by year-on-year growth in interest income, the bank’s gross earnings rose by 5.5 percent to close at N155.4 billion, compared to the N147.2 billion it recorded last year.

That isn't all, the leading bank's total assets went up to N7.9 trillion, which is a growth of 2=5 percent from last year's N7.7 trillion. The shareholder's fund also went up by 5.3 percent to N762.4 billion, from N724.1 billion last year.

Kennedy Uzoka, GMD of the bank is satisfied with the performance, claiming that it clearly shows the bank's capacity to thrive even in the difficult economic climate.

According to him, the healthy capital and liquidity rates position the bank for future growth as it focuses on supporting customers across a wide range of markets.

The GMD pointed out the bank would exert more effort into carrying out its priorities in the current financial year, leveraging people, processes, and technology to deliver the best experience for customers across all channels. 

The current share price of United Bank for Africa (UBA) is NGN 7.60. The stock closed its last trading day on Friday, at 7.50 NGN per share on the NSE, recording a 1.35% gain over its previous closing price of 7.40 NGN. This year, the bank began the year at N8.65 but has lost about 13.29 percent of that share price valuation. It currently ranks 146th in terms of year-to-date performance on the NSE. In recent weeks, since March 24th, the shares have gone up by 8.7 percent.

Founded in 1949, the United Bank of Africa is a Nigerian pan-African financial services group with subsidiaries in 20 African countries, and offices in London, Paris, and New York.