Chinwendu Obienyi
Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) Plc, has announced that it recorded N15.9 billion profit in nine months(9M) of 2020, resulting into a 2 per cent increase from N15.5 billion in 2019.
According to the bank’s unaudited financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, its gross earnings rose to N118.8 billion during the month under review as against N111.9 billion recorded in 2019. Also, interest income grew by 1 per cent from N84.9 billion in 2019 to N85.4 billion in 2020 while non-interest income grew to N33.4 billion from N27.2 billion in 9M 2019 due to increased trading income and asset revaluation gains.
Commenting on the results, the Chief Executive Officer, UBN Plc, Emeka Emuwa, said that the bank’s positive performance in 9M 2020 reflects increasing customer loyalty and the bank’s intense retail drive.
“Notwithstanding the realities of a tougher operating environment arising from the ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank’s net interest income before impairment rose by 15 per cent to N41.7 billion, while non-interest income grew by 23 per cent to N33.4 billion”, he said.
According to him, the bank reached a major milestone as its customer deposits crossed the N1 trillion mark this quarter, growing by 28 per cent to N1.1 trillion compared to N886.3 billion at the end of 2019.
Emuwa added that the bank’s customer acquisition strategy has been reinforced by the versatility of its digital platforms and channels which continue to drive customer satisfaction.
“The civil unrest which erupted in October and led to significant destruction of property and small businesses across the country, will have real impact on business and the operating environment; and even as restrictions have eased, COVID-19 also remains a present threat in our day to day operations.
Heading into the final stretch in 2020, our overarching commitment is to the health and wellbeing of our employees and the safety of our customers. Showing up for our communities is also at the core of who we are and therefore we will work with our partners and through our corporate citizenship initiatives to support individuals, businesses and our communities where we operate as we begin to rebuild and heal as a country”, the UBN CEO said.
Commenting further, the bank’s Chief Financial Officer, Joe Mbulu said that the bank’s asset quality continues to improve with Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) down to 3.6 per cent from 5.8 per cent as at December 2019 which was supported by ongoing efforts to diversify its loan book to include viable businesses and households.
“Our Capital Adequacy Ratio remains robust at 19.5%, well above the regulatory threshold. With the $40 million (USD) financing secured from the International Finance Corporation for on-lending to trade finance customers, we are continuing to expand our funding engagements with DFIs to support our strategic business initiatives.
For the rest of the year, we remain focused on our business priorities in the face of the COVID-19 challenge and will continue to leverage increasing customer loyalty, stronger digital platforms and channels as well as solid risk management structure to deliver on our objectives”, he stated.