By Ngozi Amuche
Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has reported a 9 per cent decline in gross earnings to N76 billion for the half year ended June 30, 2019.
This was against the ₦83.3 billion which was recorded in the review period of 2018.
According to the result published by the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Interest income was down by eight per cent to ₦57.3 billion against ₦62.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2018. Also, net interest income after impairment grew by three per cent to ₦30.5 billion against ₦29.7 billion in H1 2018, supported by an aggressive drive in collections.
Net operating income was slightly down by two per cent to ₦49.6 billion compared with ₦50.9 billion in the previous period of 2018. Also, operating expenses was down by four per cent to ₦37.5 billion against ₦39.2 billion in H1 2018; reflecting the gains of the bank’s cost optimisation programme.
The bank’s profit before tax went up by 4 per cent to N12.1billion, compared with N11.7 billion achieved in the comparative period of 2018.
Commenting on the results, the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Emeka Emuwa, said it was able to deliver growth in profit before tax in spite of the realities of a challenging economic environment.
“Notwithstanding the realities of operating in a challenging economic environment, the Group delivered a per cent growth in Profit before Tax to ₦12.1 billion from ₦11.7 billion in H1 2018.
“To sustain growth in earnings, we remained steadfast in our commitment to delivering value and first-class customer experience to all our customers.
“We have developed a concerted and clear plan to increase our risk assets with our loan book growing by eight per cent to ₦563.0 billion compared to year-end 2018.
“The ability to take on more risk is hinged on our robust risk management and debt recovery processes working in sync which led to recoveries of over N5 billion in the period.
The Union Bank chief said, “We successfully closed our Series 3, 10 year ₦30 billion bond in June, as part of our ₦100 billion debt capital programme. This series, which was once again fully subscribed, is the largest 10-year bond issued by a Nigerian corporate to date. This further reinforces the confidence of the investor community in Union Bank. With this new injection of tier 2 capital, we are well positioned to deliver on our growth strategy and priorities.
Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on opportunities to deliver our simpler, smarter banking promise to our customers while improving internal operational efficiencies which will translate to enhanced shareholder value.”
Speaking on the H1 2019 numbers, Chief Financial Officer, Joe Mbulu said: “In the first half of 2019, we continued with our expansion strategy to grow our agency banking footprint which in turn boosted customer confidence in our brand. Customer deposits have followed the same trajectory with a 4 per cent growth, to ₦889.5 billion as at June 2019 from ₦857.6 billion in December 2018. Net Interest Income after Impairments is also up 3 percent to ₦30.5 billion compared to ₦29.7 billion in the same period in 2018.
