Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, last week also published its unaudited result for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018, with the impact of the marginal rise in gross earnings, robust growth in net fee and commission income, as well as net trading income was wiped off by the net impairment charge for credit losses soared by 634.06%.
Gross earnings for the period rose to N39.466bn, up by 15.04% from the N34.306bn in the previous Q1; with interest income accounting for N31.674bn; as against the N27.698bn; while interest expenses remained flat at N13.843bn, up from N13.069bn. Net interest income stood at N17.831bn, up from N14.629bn, representing a 21.89% rise over the period.
Net impairment charge for credit losses soared to N2.349bn, up by 634.06% from N320m; following which net interest income after impairment charges for credit losses stood at N15.482bn, compared to the previous N14.309bn.
Net fee and commission income increased by 193.94% from N1.139bn in 2017Q1 to N3.345bn; cash recoveries dropped to N304m from N1.257bn, representing a 75.82% rise; even as other operating income slipped to N867m from N1.922bn.
Non-interest income increased to N7.792bn, up by 17.86% from the N6.611bn reported in the prior Q1; Operating Income rose from N20.92bn to N23.274bn; personnel expenses inched slightly to N7.926bn from N7.853bn. Depreciation and amortization increased from N1.396bn to N1.632bn; just as other operating expenses increased from N7.01bn to N8.309bn; bringing total expenses to N17.867bn from N16.259bn, up marginally by 9.89%.
Profit before tax therefore stood at N5.407bn from 4.661bn; income tax dropped marginally to N119m from N142m; even as net profit stood at 5.288bn, 17.02% better than the N4.519bn reported in the corresponding period of 2017; translating to N0.18 of Earnings Per Share, down from 26 kobo.
Total assets for the period fell from N1.455tr in December 31, 2017 to N1.38tr at the end of Q1, representing a N74.331bn or 5.1% decline; with customer loans and advances dropping by N67.846bn or 13.12% to N449.257bn from N517.103bn.
Total liabilities also fell to N1.095tr from N1.109tr, with customer deposits dropping from N802.384bn to N759.097bn; with shareholders’ fund reducing from N345.741bn to N285.652bn.