United Bank for Africa on Thursday said it recorded N201bn profit before tax in its 2022 financial period.
The bank disclosed this in a statement on its audited financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2022, titled, ‘Full year 2022: UBA delivers strong results as profit hits N201bn’.
It stated that, “Despite the highly challenging global economic and business environment, UBA recorded a laudable profit before tax, with a 31.2 per cent growth, to close the year under review at N200.8bn, rising from N153.01bn recorded at the end of the 2021 financial year; while profit after tax grew by 43.5 percent to N170.2bn in 2022, compared to N118.7bn recorded the year before.
“Consequently, UBA Group shareholders’ funds rose to N922.1bn, as at December 2022, achieving an impressive growth by 14.6 per cent, compared to prior year.”
It said the 2022 financials, filed by the bank at Nigerian Exchange Limited on Wednesday, showed that gross earnings rose significantly to N853.2bn from N660.2bn recorded at the end of the 2021 financial year, representing a strong 29.2 per cent growth.
The bank’s total assets rose by 27.2 per cent, crossing the N10tn mark, to close at N10.9tn in December 2022; up from N8.5tn in 2021.
It stated that, “In the year under consideration, UBA Group cost-to-income ratio dropped to 59.2 per cent, from over 60 per cent in prior year, pointing at the Group’s improving efficiency.
“In its usual tradition of rewarding shareholders, the Bank proposed a final dividend of 90 kobo for every ordinary share of 50 kobo, for the financial year ended December 31, 2022.
“The final dividend which is subject to the ratification of the shareholders during its upcoming annual general meeting will bring the total dividend for the year to N1.10 per share, as the bank had paid an interim dividend of 20 kobo, based on its audited 2022 half year results.”
Commenting on the result, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, said notwithstanding the tight and challenging operating environment, UBA continued to deliver significant performance.
UBA’s Executive Director, Finance and Risk Management, Ugo Nwaghodoh, said going by the recent performance, UBA remained on strong footing and was comfortably positioned to take on more opportunities in Nigeria, Africa and beyond.
Punch