April 5, 2023

By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Africa’s global lender, the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) said on Wednesday Click Credit Loan Scheme portfolio has hit N2.3 billion in the review period since introduction in November 2020.

“We are reliving and revamping the product to do more for our customers in the coming years” Oliver Alawuba – Group Managing Director/CEO of the Bank said at the Financial Year 2022 (FY22) Investor Conference Call Presentation.

The Click Credit is one of UBA’s digital lending products, a superfast loan for all emergencies, salary earner or self-employed can get a loan of up to N5 million in one minute and pay back easily over 12 months with no hidden charges.

As earlier reported, Africa’s global lender said to benefit from the product, customers should just dial *919*28# and within seconds of the application, they get their credit, the Click Credit is also available on all the Bank’s digital platforms, Leo, UBA Internet Banking and Mobile Banking.

The Pan African lender said customers who are qualified to obtain the Click Credit are salaried employees and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Speaking on the Loan Growth of the Bank, Alawuba affirmed that UBA guided a lower loan growth compared to what it had in FY22 21.4 percent to 12.5 percent in the review period. “UBA recorded a 21.4 percent growth in loans to customers, moving up to N3.4 trillion in FY22,” the UBA CEO said in his presentation.

Alawuba affirmed that growing of the Bank’s loan portfolio by N605 billion or 21.4 percent from the prior year is in line with the overall objective of stimulating growth in the real sector.

“We guided a lower loan growth compared to what we had in 2022 because we need to be real to the market and we are looking at the market with very high inflationary trend with depreciation, so a lot of risk coming in, being a prudent risk management firm, we believed that we would not be very bullish in terms of loan growth for the year,” Alawuba added.

According to the presentation, Non performing loans (NPLs) moderated to 3.1 percent from 3.6 percent on the back of increased loan book.

“Well diversified loan book across geography and strategic economic sectors translating to moderate credit risk, prudent underwriting standards and proactive credit monitoring underpins the lending business,” the UBA CEO said in his presentation.

UBA in its audited results for the full-year ended December 31, 2022, recorded an impressive growth across top and bottom lines.

The 2022 financials filed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in the review period shows that the Africa’s global bank’s gross earnings grew by 29.6 percent Year-on-Year (YoY) to N852.9 billion and the net profit surging 43.5 percent YoY to N170.3 billion in FY22.

According to the lenders FY22 report, the growth in gross earnings was driven by a solid 17.5 percent YoY rise in interest income on amortised cost and FVOCI securities (65.3 percent of FY22 gross earnings) to N556.7 billion, coupled with a 32.7 percent YoY surge in fee and commission income (24.7 percent of FY22 gross earnings) to N210.5 billion in FY22 and a 4.4x jump in the Bank’s net trading and foreign exchange income (8.5 percent of FY22 gross earnings) to N72.2 billion in FY22.

Profit Before Tax (PBT) increased by 31.2 percent to N201 billion from N153 billion recorded in 2021 while Profit After Tax (PAT) rose by 43.5 percent to close the year at N170 billion from N119 billion in 2021.

UBA has growing operations in 20 African countries, the UK,USA, with a Rep. office in France. We have also commenced full operation in the UAE • With a 73-year history, UBA is one of the strongest and most recognised banking brands to originate from Sub-Sahara Africa • The bank provides corporate, commercial, SME, consumer and personal (retail) banking services to more than 30 million customers, served through diverse channels: over 1,000 business offices and customer touch points (2,676 ATMs, 303,703 PoS, robust online banking and mobile banking.

In looking at 2023 and beyond, “Our primary business strategy is to continue to focus on the Customer – the ‘Undisputed Employer’, while leveraging the key pillars driving our Customer First (C1st) Philosophy i.e. People, Process and Technology, in delivering positive experiences across all our touchpoints – physical and virtual,” Alawuba added.

“Despite the global headwinds across all markets, we commit to doing more this year by driving up revenues across all major business segments, coupled with the relentless pursuit of efficiency Group-wide,” the UBA CEO affirmed.

Click here to read full PDF copy of UBA FY’22 Investors Presentation