Omodele Adigun
Shareholders of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc have commended the bank’s management over the impressive performance achieved at the end of the 2017 financial year particularly the remarkable achievements of its African subsidiaries which contributed over 45 per cent to the Group’s income.
At the bank’s 56th Annual General Meeting in Lagos on Monday, the shareholders, also praised the board over the higher dividend payout following the impressive performance.
For the financial year ended December 2017, the bank’s management proposed a total dividend per share of N1, comprising 20 kobo interim dividend which was already paid by mid-2017 and a final dividend of 80kobo which was ratified by shareholders during the AGM.
The Chairman, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Boniface Okezie, praised the Group Managing Director of the bank for his hard work in ensuring that the bank recorded improved performance in the year under review.
He said, “I want to especially commend the management of UBA especially the Chairman, Tony Elumelu and GMD/CEO, Kennedy Uzoka, who have been managing activities of this great institution for the past two years. We the shareholders are impressed at results that you have recorded so far and the achievements that the bank has recorded under your leadership, especially the sterling contributions of our subsidiaries in Africa. We are especially impressed about what the bank has been doing in Africa. It has gone a long way to show that good things can come from Africa. UBA has showcased a high level of ingenuity in the banking space, and we are glad for how this is translating into gains for our business.
He added: “And so, we the shareholders urge you to continue to do more and would advise Uzoka and his management team not to rest on their oars but to work harder in ensuring that this momentum is sustained and even surpassed in the coming year.”
Shareholders also praised the bank on its recent announcement of promoting over 47% of its workforce, within the last 12 months, adding that it remained a commendable feat at period where many banks and companies had let go of a lot of their staff owing to the recession that rocked the country about two years ago.
“Truly the bank is doing well, and putting smiles not only on the faces of customers and shareholders, but also on the staff, we believe that when staff are satisfied, they will do more to attract more customers into the bank which will in turn grow our businesses, so we commend UBA for this and ask other banks to emulate this strategic step.
Another shareholder, Mr. Timothy Adesiyan, commended the bank for being the first bank in Africa to embrace Artificial Intelligence technology into the banking space, through the introduction of UBA’s Leo. He also pointed out the various achievements of the bank in the year under focus, which according to him had not gone unnoticed by the World Bank. He said shareholders remained impressed that the bank’s investments in key regions such as Ghana, Bukina Fasso and Cote d’Ivoire were paying off, adding “UBA has become a catalyst of growth in Africa. We have been benefitting from this in the area of dividends, and we ask that this momentum be sustained.”
Nonah Awoh, a shareholder and analyst, who also commended the bank for the performance also tasked the management to do more to ensure that all the African subsidiaries contribute at least 50% to the bottom-line.
Addressing shareholders earlier at the event, the Group Chairman, Mr. Tony Elumelu, said the bank recorded strong growth in both top and bottom lines with N462 billion earnings and a 20% growth, over its performance in 2016.