The board of United Bank for Africa Plc, on Monday presented its nine-month unaudited financials for the period ended September 30, 2017, indicating that gross earnings rose by 25.75%, slightly faster than the restated net profit for the period.
Gross earnings increased by N68.378bn from N265.527bn in the corresponding period of 2016 (restated) to N333.905bn; with interest income rising from N182.989bn to N238.092bn, boosted by income from term loans of N113.203bn, up from N76.122bn and treasury bills from N20.365bn to N47.196bn. Income from bonds dropped to N35.744bn from N43.697bn. Interest expense jumped from N70.916bn to N85.795bn; leaving net interest income at N152.297bn, up from N112.073bn, boosted by deposits from banks of N54.877bn, up from N51.109bn.
Fees and commission income increased to N57.885bn from N56.215bn, as revenue from electronic banking fell from N24.804bn from N15.605bn; fees and commission expense dropped slightly to N11.21bn from N11.347bn; just as net fees and commission income stood at N46.674bn from N44.868bn.
Net trading and foreign exchange income jumped by N10.077bn or 41.3% to N34.475bn, compared to the previous nine-month’s N24.398bn, with forex trading income jumped to N28.945bn from N15.941bn; even as other operating income soared to N3.453bn from N1.925bn; resulting in total non-interest income of N84.603bn, compared to the previous N71.191bn.
Operating income therefore stood at N236.9bn from N183.264bn; net impairment loss on loans and receivables rose to N12.909bn from N9.098bn, as specific impairment charge soared to n10.49bn from N3.51bn. Write-off on loans and advances increased from N1.811bn to N3.672bn and recoveries on loans written-off stood at N2.052bn from N1.811bn.
Net operating income after impairment loss on loans and receivables increased from N174.166bn to N223.991bn.
Employee benefit expenses rose to N51.296bn from N46.609bn; depreciation and amortization increased to N7.418bn from N6.333bn; other operating expenses climbed from N62.355bn to N86.985bn; bringing total operating expenses to N145.699bn from N115.297bn.
Profit before tax therefore stood at N78.325bn, compared to N58.798bn in the nine-months of 2016; tax expense almost doubled, at N17.405bn from N9.286bn; resulting in net profit of N60.92bn, up by N11.408bn or 23.04%, which translated into Earnings Per Share of N1.74, up from N1.42 each in 2016 Q3.
According to the balance sheet, total assets jumped to N3.77tr from N3.504tr, with customer loans and advances at N1.596tr from N1.505tr; followed by investment securities of N1.083tr, up from N970.392bn in the corresponding period of 2016. Total liabilities rose to N3.262tr from N3.056tr, the bulk of which was the customer deposits, which climbed to N2.519tr from N2.485tr. Shareholders’ fund therefore increased to N507.627bn from N448.069bn.