By Elizabeth Chukwuma
In spite of the bleeding economy which will take a while to be corrected due to the eight years of the mismanagement of the economy and bad governance by former President Muhammadu Buhari, the Board and Management of the United Bank of Africa, UBA, plc, a Pan African Bank, appears not to have allowed the problems of the dwindling economy to affect he operations.
The sorry state of the Nigerian economy that was said to have been inherited by the incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who incidentally was a former governor of Lagos state, according to former President Oluegun Obasanjo was made worse with ‘’the implementation of the fuel subsidy removal and the unification of the official and the Parallel or Black Market Exchange rate’’.
The former Nigerian President was emphatic that the removal of subsidy, closing the gap between the official and black market rates of exchange and dealing with the military coup in the neighbouring Republic of by the Nigerian government did not help matters.
He had said that ‘’tinkering with the exchange rate , particular, was not the solution to reviving the battered economy but the answer lies on consistency and continuity in policy to ensure stability and predictability.
The Board and Management of the UBA plc, described as the leading Money Deposit Bank, MDB, in the African Continent with its commitment to excellence may have allowed religiously the former President’s advice as it had had embarked on a strategic expansion plan to broaden and establish its footprint across the African Continent and which was said to have robbed off positively on the Bank.
The impressive performance of the bank in the 2023, Fiscal year, when some other banks are not over worried drop in returns speaks volume. Going by the report of the report of the report of Oliver Alawuba led Management ` team, which was said to have been forwarded to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, the bank had recorded an impressive leap in its gross earnings. This is evident as it was said to have grown from N853.2bn recorded in 2022, under the previous Management led by Kingsley Uzoka, to close at N2. 07 trn, showing an increase of 143% growth in 2023, despite the downturn in the economy.
The bank’s total assets was said to have also risen remarkably within the period under review by 90.22% to close at N20.65 trn up from N10.86trn in 2022. This is not all that was said to have been achieved by the bank in 2023 Fiscal year under ‘S Team.
The Bank’s Profit Before Tax, PBT, going by its annual presented at the Shaareholders’ meeting was said to have grown exponentially by 77%, to close at N758 billion as at December 31, 2023, up from the N200.88 billion recorder in 2022 while the Profit After Tax , pat, Grew by 257% from N10.2bn in 2022 to N607 bn at the end of 20233.
Alawuba, the bank , Group Managing Director, may have alluded to the claims of former President Obasanjo’s remarks, when he stated that despite 20223, being a year of ‘’significant geopolitical and economic challenges, ‘’the bank’s strength, the effort and dedication of the Management team and it Leadership in strategic areas such as innovation and sustainability has helped it ‘’to grow in a profitable and sustainable manner’’.
An elated Alawuba, pointed out that ‘’looking ahead , ‘’the outlook for the future of the bank is great because it has diversified ‘’. He had revealed that that the bank’s Subsidiaries in 20 African countries including the West African country of Ghana and the Central African country of Cameroon, had contributed over 55% to the bank’s profit in the 2023, Fiscal year.
It was not surprising why the bank Management could beat its chest that ‘’it had entered the 2024, financial year from a position of capital strength, with proven resiliency and a powerful brand’’. The UBA plc, GMD, may have gladdened the heart of the shareholders when he said that ‘’the bank which have 35 million Customers globally, would continue to excel.
The 35 million customers an insider had said are spread in the 20 African countries , United Kingdom, UK and the North American country of the United States of America, USA, and the United Arab Emirate, UAE, where it is operating to provide retail, commercial and institutional banking services . The bank Authorities had said that it will continue ‘’to be on the front burner, with an unrelenting focus on market leadership and excellent customer experience at all touch points’’.
Given the impressive performance of the African Global Bank, May have encouraged the Tony Elumelu led Board of the UBA PLC, to have declared an interim dividend of N1.1bn , representing a pay-out of 10 kobo per share for the first half of the year under consideration , thus bringing the total dividend for the year 2023 to N95.85bn, representing N2.80 per share.
At the recent UBA plc, Annual General Meeting, AGM, held at Transcorp Hotel, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Elumelu, the Board Chairman, had alluded to the promise he had made to the shareholders a few years ago that he will move from kobo-kobo dividends to naira dividends which he has kept.
Appealing to the shareholders’’ to re-invest a substantial part of their dividends in the bank’s rights issues’’ which will launched soon, in the bank recapitalization drive, the UBA plc Board Chairman may have given them a cause to be happy, as he was aid to have given his words that the bank will be giving them ‘’the first opportunity to own share in the 24 African countries and other parts of the world where it currently operate’’. The UBA plc, Board Chairman, who could not hide his feelings may have taken advantage of the bank AGM, to advise the shareholders that as they get their dividends, they should’’ reinvest a significant part of it into the bank to continue to enjoy higher returns from their investments’’.
He had confirmed that the Board members of the bank, including himself, would be reinvesting 100% of their 2023, dividends into the bank, stating that’’ if they fail to do so , they would be’’ leaving on the table for others who did not labour for it’’.
Appreciative of the mouth watery dividend which the UBA plc Board of Directors had approved may have informed why the shareholders in turn had approved the Board proposal ‘’to raise additional capital through issuance of securities comprising ordinary shares, reference shares, convertible or non-convertible notes, bonds or any other instruments in the Nigeria or international capital market.
At the UBA plc AGM, the shareholders who could not hide their feelings had given kudos to Alawuba led Management team over the impressive performance for 2023, Fiscal year which had resulted in the large payout of dividend to investors They were said to also commended the management for the bank thriving business in its other African countries subsidiaries, which was said to have continued ‘’to contribute significantly to the Group’s total income’’.
Mukhtar mukhtar, a notable shareholder who was the first to speak at the AGM, could not his joy was said to have repeatedly commended the Board and M they are impressed at the management of the UBA plc, who have been managing the activities of the bank over the last few years.
He may have spoken the mind of the shareholders when he declared that they are impressed at the results that was recorded by the Alawuba management team in 2023 Fiscal year. He was said to have cited the ability of the GMD and his team to maintain a well –structure balance sheet with a total assets of N20 Trn.
The appreciative shareholder had said that ‘’the achievement that had been recorded by the bank under the Leadership of Alawuba, who had won several award both within and outside the country, particular, the the sterling contributions of the subsidiaries in the African Continent which he had said’’ deserves accolade’’.
Patrick AAjudo, another shareholder who was given opportunity to speak had commed Elumelu, the UBA plc, Board Chairman for keeping to the promise he had to the shareholders a few years ago to begin to pay increased dividend.
Mrs. Adetutu Siyanbola, a Lawyer and shareholder of the MDB, had commended the Board and Management of the Bank for raising the gender balance and high female representation on the Board of the bank, which according to her is a feat worth emulating by other Financial Institutions in Africa.
She had expressed satisfaction that the bank did not incur any penalty from the central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, under the close watch of Olayemi Michael Cardod and other regulatory Authorities in the year under consideration, meaning that the bank had zero infractions and didn’t run foul of any regulations.
