Press Release

• Quarter on Quarter profit up 36.37%

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has kept the pace of expanding credit support to the emerging sectors in Nigeria and Africa with its loans and advances hitting a new record high.

The first quarter, 2014 unaudited results released at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday show that the bank grew its loan figures by 16% from N937.6 billion as at December 31, 2013 to N1.067 trillion as at March 31, 2014.

In other details, Gross Earnings rose by 8.2% to N68 billion in Q1, 2014 compared to N63 billion in the corresponding period of 2013. Similarly quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) Profit-After-Tax recorded a significant 36.37% increase from N9.23 billion as at fourth quarter 2013 to N12.59 billion in the first quarter of 2014. The first quarter unaudited results also shows an operating income of N45.5 billion in the period, a marginal 2% increase on N44.6 billion in the first quarter of 2013.

Speaking on the result, Mr. Phillips Oduoza, UBA’s Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer said the bank has focused on a number of strategic initiatives aimed at increasing its market share in the Nigerian and African markets. “We are optimistic that the gains of our improved electronic banking channels and financial inclusion initiatives will materialize in successive quarters during the year. We remain confident that we have the right tools to achieve our business goals for the year whilst ensuring we continue to improve our customer service delivery and further consolidate our growth momentum.” said Oduoza.

Also in the quarter under review, UBA’s net interest margin (NIM), which shows the quality of the bank’s earning on its lending activities, remained stable at 5.9% Quarter on Quarter (QoQ). Cost of funds also remained stable at 3.6%, QoQ, while return on assets remained stable at 1.9% QoQ, just as Return on equity improved to 22.1% QoQ from 21.3%.

The UBA Group remains a highly diversified financial services provider, the leading player in three different markets and controlling significant market share in 19 different African countries. The Group has a strong retail franchise across the continent offering its more than seven million customers a bouquet of products and services tailored to meet their different financial needs.