One of Africa’s biggest financial institutions, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has released its performance in the market in year 2021. The audited results of the bank for the year ended December 31, 2021 showed appreciable growths across key financial metrics. Gross earnings rose to N660.2 billion in 2021, representing an increase of seven per cent on N616.8 billion recorded in 2020.
Despite the huge challenging business and slow economic recovery in most of its countries of operations, UBA’s profit before tax was a 20.3 per cent growth to N153.1 billion in 2021, compared with N127.3 billion in 2020. Profit after tax rose grew by 8.7 per cent to N118.7 billion in 2021 as against N109.2 billion recorded in the previous year.
Total assets grew by 11 per cent to an unprecedented N8.5 trillion in 2021, up from N7.7 trillion in 2020, thus marking the first time the bank’s assets will cross the N8 trillion mark. Similarly, net loans grew by 7.7 per cent to N2.8 trillion. Customer deposits rose by 12.2 per cent to N6.4 trillion in 2021 compared with N5.7 trillion in 2020, reflecting increased customer confidence, enhanced customer experience, successes from the ongoing business transformation programme and the deepening of its retail banking franchise. Further analysis showed that in 2021, the bank’s operating income rose by 10 per cent to N443 billion compared with N403 billion in the previous year, whereas operating expenses closed the period at N279 billion.
The board of directors of the bank has recommended a final dividend of 80 kobo per share, in addition to an interim dividend of 20 kobo earlier paid, bringing the total dividend payout to N1 per share.
Group Managing Director, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Kennedy Uzoka, said the results showed that notwithstanding the tight and challenging operating environment, UBA has continued to deliver significant performance.
He outlined that the quality of UBA’s portfolio as well as the strength of the bank’s credit risk management frameworks and policies remain the bedrock of the positive results that the bank has been recording over the years.
According to him, the current performance highlights UBA’s relentless customer focus, and leverage on its key strategic levers of people, process and technology.