Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has reported N83.3billion gross earnings for the half year ended June 30, 2018, from N72.1billion which was recorded in the comparative period of 2017.
According to the bank’s unaudited financial statement, which was submitted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the growth was driven by a 10 per cent increase in interest income and 37 per cent increase in non-interest income.
The bank’s profit before tax indicated an increase of 23 per cent, compared to N9.5 billion in the corresponding period of 2017; while interest income grew from N56.6 billion in 2017 to N62.2 billion, just as net interest income before impairment went up from N30.1billion in 2017 to N34.4 billion in the review period.
Non-interest income appreciated from N15.4 billion in the first half of 2017 to N21.1 billion as at review period; driven by enhanced treasury trading income, recoveries and 31 per cent growth in alternate channel revenues, while net interest income was driven by an improvement in net interest margins, from 7.9 per cent to 8.2 per cent on the back of lower cost of funds.
Reacting, the Chief Executive Officer, Union Bank, Emeka Emuwa, attributed the growth to efficiency and productivity drive. “Across all our business lines, we witnessed strong underlying performance, translating into improved earnings.
“We will continue to focus on the recovery of non-performing loans. With the resolution in Q2 2018 of the large real estate exposure which was impaired in December 2017, the Group NPL ratio is down to 10.8 per cent from 14.9 per cent at March 31 2018 and 19.8 per cent at Dec. 31, 2017,” he said.
Emuwa said the group would continue to demonstrate its ability to deliver strong results, notwithstanding a competitive and challenging operating environment.
“In the second half of the year, we will continue to focus on productivity, leveraging on our enhanced platform to deliver best-in-class services to our customers,” he said.
The Union Bank’s boss added that the bank would take advantage of targeted opportunities across its business lines and geographies.
Also, Oyinkan Adewale, the bank’s Chief Financial Officer, said the group’s retained earnings moved from negative to positive position for the first time since 2012.
“This eliminated a major technical impediment to the payment of dividends. The group’s net interest margins improved from 7.9 per cent in the half year of 2017 to 8.2 per cent during the period under review,” the officer said.
