For Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN), the first half of 2019 couldn’t have been better. The bank declared a profit before tax of N12.1 billion for the half year ended June 30, 2019 on Monday, a growth of four per cent compared with N11.7 billion in the comparative period of 2018.
The result published by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that gross earnings stood at N76 billion. This was in contrast with ₦83.3 billion posted half year 2018, indicating a decline of nine per cent due to decrease in average earning assets.
Interest income was down by eight per cent to ₦57.3bn against ₦62.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2018.
Also, net interest income after impairment grew by three per cent to ₦30.5 billion against ₦29.7 billion in H1 2018, supported by an aggressive drive in collections.
Net operating income was slightly down by two per cent to ₦49.6 billion compared with ₦50.9 billion in the previous period of 2018.
Operating expenses of the bank were down by four per cent to ₦37.5 billion against ₦39.2 billion in H1 2018; reflecting the gains of the bank’s cost optimisation programme.
Mr Emeka Emuwa, the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, said the financial institution was able to deliver growth in profit before tax in spite of the realities of a challenging economic environment.
“Notwithstanding the realities of operating in a challenging economic environment, the Group delivered a per cent growth in Profit Before Tax to ₦12.1 billion from ₦11.7 billion in H1 2018.
“To sustain growth in earnings, we remained steadfast in our commitment to delivering value and first-class customer experience to all our customers. We have developed a concerted and clear plan to increase our risk assets with our loan book growing by eight per cent to ₦563.0 billion compared to year-end 2018.
“The ability to take on more risk is hinged on our robust risk management and debt recovery processes working in sync which led to recoveries of over N5 billion in the period. We successfully closed our Series 3, 10 year ₦30 billion bond in June, as part of our ₦100 billion debt capital programme.
“This series, which was once again fully subscribed, is the largest 10-year bond issued by a Nigerian corporate to date. This further reinforces the confidence of the investor community in Union Bank. With this new injection of tier 2 capital, we are well positioned to deliver on our growth strategy and priorities.
“Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on opportunities to deliver our simpler, smarter banking promise to our customers while improving internal operational efficiencies which will translate to enhanced shareholder value,” Emuwa said.