UBA Pays N22.23bn Dividend

BY CHINYERE OBIORA LAGOS – United Bank for Africa (UBA) will pay total dividend of N22.23 billion to its shareholders for the financial year ended December 31, 2017.

The breakdown indicated that the bank paid interim dividend of N0.20 kobo and final dividend of N0.65 kobo, bringing the total cash dividend to N0.85 kobo per share for the year.

Addressing the bank’s 56th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, the chairman, Mr Tony Elumelu said its profit before tax rose to N105.264 billion against N90.642 billion reported in the preceding year. This figure represents a growth of N14.622 billion or 16.13 per cent.

He also stated that profit after tax went up by N6.326 billion or 8.75 per cent to N78.590 billion from N72.264 billion reported in the preceding year.

According to him, the strong profitability reflects the increasing contributions of UBA’s Africa subsidiaries where the bank continues to gain market shares and deepen penetration within Nigeria and the continent.

He said, “Our group’s profitability in the year also reflects efficiency gains from management’s initiatives in the processes and treasury management.

“The balance sheet grew by 16 per cent year on year to cross the N4 trillion mark and our Basel II capital adequacy ratio of 20 per cent remains one of the highest in the industry and far ahead of 15 per cent minimum regulatory requirement in Nigeria”.

In his remarks, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of UBA,  Mr Kennedy Uzoka attributed the impressive growth in bank’s earnings to improved staff productivity, stressing that as the bank continue to make value proposition towards fulfilling customers aspiration,  the management has leveraged enhanced customer service and predictive analytics to grow shares of existing customers’ wallet.

Uzoka said UBA has invested hugely in technology as part of measures to deliver quality service to customers, adding; “Our investments in people, technology and process efficiency are deepening our competitive edge and broadening our earnings capacity.”

He stated that the bank also grew the non-funded income by 12.5 per cent to N118 billion, which was largely driven by annuity-based offering, thus reinforcing the quality and sustainability of its earnings’ growth.

A scrutiny of the bank’s result explained that loans and advances to customers rose from N1.505 trillion to N1.650 trillion, while its total assets hit the N4.069 trillion at the end of 2017 financial year compared to N3.504 trillion in the preceding year.

Just as the bank’s total liabilities also surged to N3.540 trillion from N3.056 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2016, its interest income improved by N61.687 billion or 23.37 per cent to N325.657 billion from N263.970 billion reported the corresponding period of 2016.

In the same vein, fees and commission income grew by N9.738 billion or 13.30 per cent to N82.937 billion from N73.199 billion in the preceding year.