For the full year ended December 31, 2022, United Bank for Africa (UBA) has announced its audited financial results, which demonstrate excellent performance across key indicators.
The bank submitted its 2022 financials with Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) Wednesday, revealing that gross earnings increased by 29.2% to N853.2 billion from N660.2 billion in 2021.
From N8.5 trillion in December 2021 to N10.9 trillion in December 2022, total assets increased by 27.2%, surpassing the N10 trillion threshold.
Despite the difficult global economic and business climate, UBA recorded a commendable Profit Before Tax (PBT), with a growth of 31.2% to close the year at N200.8 billion, up from N153.01 billion in 2021. Meanwhile, Profit After Tax (PAT), which measures earnings after taxes, increased by 43.5% to N170.2 billion in 2022 from N118.7 billion the year before.
As a result, UBA Group Shareholders’ Funds increased by 14.6% to N922.1 billion as of December 2022.
The UBA Group’s cost-to-income ratio decreased to 59.2% in the year under review from over 60% the year before, indicating the group’s rising efficiency.
The bank has recommended a final dividend of 90 kobo for every ordinary share of 50 kobo for the fiscal year that ends on December 31, 2022, in keeping with its custom of rewarding shareholders. The bank had already given an interim dividend of 20 kobo, based on its audited 2022 half-year results, thus the final dividend, which is subject to the ratification of the shareholders during its upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM), will raise the total payout for the year to N1.10 per share.
It’s also important to note that UBA increased customer loans by 21.4% to N3.4 trillion in 2022 and improved customer deposits by 22.9% to N7.8 trillion and N6.4 trillion in the same period of 2021. These improvements reflect rising customer confidence, improved customer experiences, successes from the ongoing business transformation program, and the expansion of UBA’s retail banking franchise.
Oliver Alawuba, Group Managing Director and CEO, commented on the outcome by saying that UBA continues to perform significantly despite the difficult and constrained operating environment.
