The board of directors of United Bank of Africa Plc has disclosed that its financial statement for the period ended December 31, 2023, will not be released until the end of April.
Statutorily, the bank is expected to publish the account by the end of March but it said it won’t be ready until April 30.
The reason for the delay according to a notice sent to the Nigeria Exchange Limited is that the Central Bank of Nigeria has yet given its approval.
“This is to inform The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), our shareholders and the general public that the 2023 Financial Statements and Reports for the year ended December 31, 2023, submitted to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are undergoing the required review and approval process. Consequently, the Bank is yet to publish its Audited Financial Statements on the NGX portal.
“The Audited Financial Statements will be published upon receipt of the CBN’s approval, which is expected to be on or before Tuesday, April 30, 2024,” the bank said in a statement.
In continuing compliance with the post-listing requirements of the Nigerian Exchange Limited for quoted companies, United Bank for Africa Plc declares that the Closed Period for trading in the Bank’s shares would subsist until 24 hours after the Audited Financial Statements and Reports for the year ended December 31, 2023, and the Unaudited Financial Statements for the first Quarter ending 31 March 2024 are released to the public.
Accordingly, no Director, person discharging managerial responsibility, employee with sensitive information, adviser, or consultant of the Bank and their connected persons may directly or indirectly deal in the Securities (Shares and Bonds) of the Bank during the Closed Period.
Shareholders of UBA and the investing public are high in anticipation following the latest disclosure that the Group’s financial performance reports for 2023 are currently on the desk of the CBN awaiting final approval.
In a corporate note submitted to the Nigerian Exchange Limited in January 2024, the Group said its board had already vetted and approved the audited consolidated & separate financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 at its meeting held on Thursday, January 25.
The statement read, “Please refer to the announcement dated December 29, 2023 which notified Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public of the Board Meeting of United Bank for Africa Plc.
“Please be informed that the Board of United Bank for Africa Plc at its meeting which held on Thursday, January 25, 2024, considered and approved the Group Audited Consolidated & Separate Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, and payment of a final dividend, subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“Further to the above, kindly be advised that Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public would be immediately notified upon approval of the Group Audited Consolidated & Separate Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 by the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
UBA Plc reported a pre-tax profit of N61.37 billion in 2023 from a profit of N44.48 billion reported during the same period in 2022.
Its interest income rose to N191.88 billion from N125.08 billion recorded during the comparable period of the 2022 first quarter, representing a 53.40% growth.
The bank also increased its total non-interest and income by 36.71% to stand at N56.08 billion against N41.02 billion in the same period of 2022.
By the half-year ended June 31 2023, UBA posted impressive earnings to lead the banking industry with a gross earnings of N981.775 billion, followed by Zenith Bank and Access Holdings with N967.261 billion and N940.311 respectively.
UBA also emerged top in profit after tax (PAT) for the period under review. The bank reported N378.235 billion as profit for the 6 months period. Specifically, this amounted to a leap of 437.8 percent over H1 2022.
Similarly, the Group’s Shareholders’ Funds increased to N1.712 trillion, reflecting its strong capacity for internal capital generation.
In the third quarter of 2023, UBA again posted positive numbers with a 86.64% jump in pre-tax profits, reaching N98.444 billion.
This took nine-month pre-tax profits to N502.901 billion versus N138.493 billion in the same period of 2022.
The Q 3 strong performance, coupled with Q2 figures, led to an impressive nine-month profit after tax of N449.296 billion, helping it to retain top spot as leader of the banking sector in terms of profitability.
With the impressive performance last year, investors are anxious to receive the audited and full-year 2023 scorecards of the financial group, with special interest in dividend information.
