- Unity Bank’ll Deliver Value to Investors, Says CEO
The Managing Director/CEO of Unity Bank Plc, Mrs. Tomi Somefun has assured investors of the lender’s commitment to deliver bountiful returns on their investments.
The bank chief who spoke after the bank posted N3.8 billion Profit Before Tax (PBT) for the third quarter ended September 30 this year, said the lender remained committed to delivering value to its stakeholders, saying its profits came from efficient balance sheet management and cost containment initiatives.
Mrs. Somefun emphasised that the bank has continued to maintain and sharpen its focus on executing strategic choices aimed at creating a large diversified bank with a strong retail/SME base, development of array of products and consolidating market confidence to boost its growth trajectory”.
According to analysts, with the bank’s repositioning efforts and consistent focus to tap into the emerging opportunities in the enlarged financial services space within Nigeria, Unity Bank is poised to deliver quality banking services to emerging sectors in Retail/Small and Medium Enterprises, Commercial and the Agricultural value chain.
The bank also grew its assets to N476.15 billion within the period, representing an increase of 7.4 per cent or N32.6 billion over N443.3 billion recorded as at 31 December, 2015.
The bank’s customers’ deposit equally rose by N32.5 billion to N263.91 billion indicating an increase of N32.5 billion. The figures, analysts said, showed a measure of customers’ growing confidence and increased business momentum.
“Furthermore, the various cost optimisation strategies and other operational overhauls which were embarked upon by the new Management of the bank saw operating expense dropped by 14 per cent or N3.1 billion to N19.6 billion against N22.8 billion recorded in September 2015.
The bank recently introduced the UnityBiz account to enable it boost its support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
The lender reiterated its commitment to the Small and Medium (SMEs) segment of the market, which has been identified as the fulcrum of economic growth.
“The value proposition embedded in the UnityBiz current account lies in the fact that structured businesses in the SME space are able to access both the asset and liability side of the product at concessionary rates, which benchmark the best pricing offered in the industry,” the lender said in a statement.
The SME target markets include retailers, social services, schools, contractors, professional service firms, wholesalers, manufacturers, hospitality, non-governmental organisations, clubs and associations, suppliers and the agri-business value chain. The purpose, it said, was to offer the SME products that bring immense value to the operators.
