Tony Elumelu, chairman of the United Bank for Africa Plc, at the weekend commended the Federal Government and President Muhammadu Buhari for the recently unveiled economic recovery and growth plan, describing it as “a robust call to action and we look forward to its rapid implementation. “
Addressing shareholders during the 55th Annual General Meeting of the United Bank for Africa Plc, in Lagos, Elumelu, also commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for implementing decisions that have helped stimulate and strengthen the nation’s economy for its efforts, bringing to bear a coordinated policy response that will positively jumpstart it.
Recent actions by the Federal Government, including greater liquidity in the foreign exchange markets, he stressed, have already had a positive impact on the economy, giving Nigerians and foreign investors alike hope that the nation’s economy is on the road to recovery.
“We were honoured to be consulted before the launch, and I believe, as a significant investor in Nigeria, that if we all give our support to the programme, the country will quickly recover,” he recalled, stressing.
“I also commend the CBN for the decisive way they have been managing the economy, especially the way the foreign exchange regime is responding to their targeted intervention.”
The chairman used the opportunity to highlight the group’s commitment to customer service, with a customer first programme that is central to its ambition to be the bank of choice for all Africans, just as he applauded staff and shareholders on the performance of the bank and for their loyalty, the results of which show that UBA’s decision to invest in other African countries outside of Nigeria is beginning to bear fruits.
“Many said we are too bold in ambitions in Africa. It is clear from these results that our strategy has been proved correct. I want you to know that by investing in UBA, you have diversified your portfolio, you have not just invested in a Nigerian bank, but have invested in a bank with earnings now coming from across Africa”.
Elumelu also praised last year’s leadership change in the group with the appointment of Kennedy Uzoka as chief executive, “which we are formally introducing today. Let me say that Kennedy and his team have hit the ground running. At the board level, we are extremely impressed by the financial performance that they are already delivering. We all have great faith in their ability to deliver.”
Also addressing the gathering, Uzoka raised the shareholders’ hope for the future, expressing “strong optimism” about the 2017 financial year, “especially with the outlook remaining positive in most of our markets. We are aware of the macro economic challenges, competition and constantly changing customer preferences.
“However, we believe we are well equipped to win in the market. We will further develop our unique Pan-African platform to improve productivity, extract efficiency gains and grow our share of customers’ wallet across all business lines and markets. We will continue to build on our strong governance culture, zero-tolerance for infractions and transparency in furthering our frontiers of leadership in the African market.”
The shareholders approved the payment of N19.9bn as final dividend for the financial year ended December 31, 2016, in addition to N7.3bn interim dividend paid after the audit of its 2016 half year results.
The shareholders unanimously approved the N0.55 per share final dividend on every ordinary share, after an interim dividend of N0.20 per share to shareholders, bringing the total dividend for the 2016 financial year to N0.75 each, an impressive 25% growth over the total dividend of N0.60 paid for the 2015 financial year. Furthermore, the total dividend of N0.75/share translates to an unparalleled yield of 14.3% when put in the perspective of UBA’s share price of N5.26 on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, as at the close of market on Friday, April 07, 2017.
UBA Plc, a leading pan-African financial services group, has presence in 19 African countries, as well as the United Kingdom, the United States of America and France.
UBA was incorporated in Nigeria as a limited liability company after taking over the assets of the British and French Bank Limited who had been operating in Nigeria since 1949. The United Bank for Africa merged with Standard Trust Bank in 2005 and from a single country operation founded in 1949 in Nigeria – Africa’s largest economy – UBA has become one of the leading providers of banking and other financial services on the African continent. The Bank provides services to over14 million customers globally, through one of the most diverse service channels in sub-Saharan Africa, with over 1,000 branches and customer touch points and robust online and mobile banking platforms.