•Solid core earnings drive growth in profitability, returns

Kayode Tokede

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has released its audited financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2024, with all its major indicators witnessing significant improvement.

 The 2024 financials, filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGx) yesterday, showed an impressive rise in the bank’s profit after tax which went up by 26.14 percent to close the year at N766.6 billion, up from N607.7 billion recorded at the end of the 2023 fiscal year.

 The bank’s gross earnings also grew significantly from N2.08 trillion recorded at the end of the 2023 financial year to N3.19 trillion in the period under consideration, representing a 53.6 percent growth.

 Like in the previous years, the banks’ total assets also rose remarkably by 46.8 percent, from N20.65 trillion in 2023, to close at N30.4 trillion in December 2024; signifying a milestone leap for the bank with the largest spread across the continent.

 Despite the highly challenging global economic and business environment, UBA recorded a profit before tax of N803.72 billion representing a 6.1 percent increase from N757.68 billion recorded at the end of the 2023 financial year.

 Consequently, UBA Group Shareholders’ Funds rose from N2.030 trillion as at December 2023 to close the 2024 financial year at N3.419 trillion, achieving an impressive growth of 68.39 percent.

As a result of the impressive performance and in fulfilment of the promise made by the UBA Group Chairman, Tony Elumelu, to shareholders at the last Annual General Meeting, the Bank proposed a final dividend of N3.00 kobo for every ordinary share of 50 kobo, for the financial year ended December 31, 2024. This brings the total dividend in the year to N5.00. The final dividend is subject to the ratification of the shareholders during its upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM).

UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, who expressed excitement at the results, stated that the 2024 financial performance demonstrates the bank’s continued focus on driving earnings growth, preserving asset quality, expanding business operations and deepening market share.

 “Our continued investment in our highly diversified global network allows UBA to deliver high quality, consistent earnings. Our businesses have been able to grow product and service income and expand our deposit base, allowing the Group to increase earnings, while maintaining strong spreads and margins,” Alawuba highlighted.

According to him, “With total deposit increasing by 42.03 percent from N17.4 trillion in 2023 to N24.7 trillion and total assets hitting N30.4 trillion from N20.7 trillion, the just-released results reflect broad-based growth across all core businesses and were achieved despite prevailing macroeconomic challenges, geopolitical uncertainties, and exchange rate volatilities.”

 The GMD expressed excitement at the marked improvement recorded in the bank’s core earnings profile, as he explained that the profit is derived from high-quality income streams from funding intermediation, fees and commissions, thus reflecting strong long-term, sustainable revenues generation capacity.

“Our ex-Nigeria (Rest of Africa & International) operations have expanded significantly over the past five years, now contributing 51.7 percent of Group revenue, up from 31 percent in 2019, delivering diversification benefits and further boosting long-term shareholder value.

“This will continue to grow, as we further explore strategic markets that align with our overall vision. We are currently upgrading our business scope and authorization in France, and considering other viable markets in the short to medium term,” Alawuba noted.

 He pointed out the bank’s resolve to invest continuously in technology, data analytics, product innovation, staff training and development, which, according to him, will collectively enhance our customers’ experience.

 On his part, UBA’s Executive Director, Finance & Risk Management, Ugo Nwaghodoh, said the bank recorded triple-digit growth in net interest income, resulting in remarkable improvement in net interest margin from 6.83 percent in 2023 to 9.02 percent, while also recording strong double-digit growth in fee and commission income lines of 91.66 percent.

“UBA Group continues to demonstrate strong capital levels, with shareholders’ funds growth of 68.4 percent to N3.42 trillion and a solid capital adequacy ratio of 31 percent, and as we defensibly position the portfolio to navigate prevailing global and regional macroeconomic upheavals, asset quality improved, with NPL ratio moderating to 5.58 percent, with strong provision coverage at 81 percent”, Nwaghodoh noted.

 He explained that as the bank navigates evolving risks, its management remains focused on responsible growth, delivering customer-focused value propositions, whilst ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements in all jurisdictions.

UBA is one of the largest employers in the financial sector on the African continent, with 25,000 employees group-wide and serving over 45 million customers globally. Operating in twenty African countries and the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France and the United Arab Emirates, UBA provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting edge technology.

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