By Stephen Ubanna
Kennedy Uzoka,the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of the United Bank for Africa ,UBA, plc, popular, Pan African Bank, is a happy man. Uzoka’s source of happiness was the significant improvement recorded by the Bank in its ‘‘operational and financial performance’’ as a result of its unending commitment towards delivering products and services aimed at meeting customers’ demands.
The UBA, GMD,was said to have made his feelings known said during the ‘Investors/Analysts Conference’ call at the bank’s head office in Lagos, Nigeria, on Thursday, September 16, 2021, following the release of its results for the half year ended June 30, 2021.
It is record that Money Deposit Bank, MDB, delivered a 33.4% appreciation in its profit before tax PBT, which rose to N76.2bn as at June 2021, up from N57.1bn recorded in the same period of 2020, thus translating to an annualised Return on Average Equity of 17.5% as against 14.4% a in 2020. Profit after tax was said to have also hit N60.6bn representing a significant increase of 36.3% compared to N44.4bn recorded in the previous year, while gross earnings grew to N316bn from N300.6bn as at June 2020; showing a 5.5.1%growth.
This feat was said to have been recorded despite the challenging business and economic environment that had emerged from the slow pace of activities following the adverse effect of the Asian country of China emerged Coronavirus, popular, COVID 19.
The UBA GM, was said to have expressed optimism that the bank is on ‘‘the trajectory of achieving and even surpassing its targets for the financial year’’, adding that its focus on delighting its customers remains at the forefront of all its activities. “We are very committed to prudent and responsible growth of our risk assets, quality of our balance sheet and the overall health of the bank. We’’, he had said. He may have gladdened the heart of the Bank Customers when he declared: We will continue to balance our growth appetite with the need to maintain very good healthy portfolio of our assets.
He maintains that the Bank “customer first philosophy remains its guiding strategy’’. This may have informed why he has consistently assured them of positive customer experience for all customers.
He further disclosed to the admiration of the people that the Bank would continue to deliver‘’its banking services only from the standpoint of the Customers’’, which is very encouraging. He may have made the Bank Customers to understand about their thinking in UBA: our customers are our ultimate employers”.
Whilst expressing optimism that the Nigerian economy and the global economy, in general, will continue to recover and rebound from the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the remaining quarter of 2021 and all the way into 2022, the GMD assured the investors and participants of ‘‘the bank’s commitment to maintain professionalism and continue to ensure strict compliance with the rules and regulations guiding its operations in all its presence countries. He stressed that “with the trusted commitment of all our great and wonderful employees, board and management, we will continue to match towards actualising our enterprise goals”.
UBA’s Chief Fina Ugo Nwaghodo, the Bank’s Chief Financial officer, CFO, who spoke on the bank’s significant geographical diversification across key economies in Africa and beyond, noted that UBA recorded ‘‘impressive growth in interest incomes, with steady growth in funding and deposits from customers’’.
He pointed out that even as the operating environment remains largely uncertain and volatile, despite marked improvement from the Covid-19 induced macroeconomic stress, UBA will continue ‘‘to build resilience through its geographically diversified business model to support headline earnings growth for the Group’’.
Hear him:“We remain committed to our 18% and 15% respective RoAE and deposit growth guidance for FY 2021, as we continue to invest in growth opportunities across our geographies of operation, whilst managing capital and balance sheet prudently”.
There is no gain saying the fact that the Pan African Bank, is a leading financial institution, in the African Continent, offering banking services to more than twenty five million customers, across over 1,000 business offices and customer touch points, in 20 African countries.
Note that with presence in the North American country of the United States of US,, the United Kingdom and France, UK, the Bank is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail; commercial and corporate banking; innovative cross-border payments and remittances; trade finance and ancillary banking services.
