United Bank for Africa Plc thrived in the third quarter despite COVID-19 and the challenging operating environment.
The lender grew interest income to N111.556 billion in the third quarter of 2020, up from N93.018 billion filed in the same quarter of 2019, according to the unaudited financial statements released through the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
Interest expense stood at N44.858 billion during the period under review, slightly higher than the N44.227 billion posted in the corresponding quarter of 2019.
Net interest income rose from N48.791 billion in Q3 2019 to N66.698 billion in Q3 2020 while net fee and commission income declined from N27.239 billion filed in Q3 2019 to N17.663 billion in Q3 2020.
Total non-interest income dropped from N34.564 billion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2019 to N30.377 billion during the period under review.
However, operating income rose to N97.075 billion in Q3 2020, up from N83.355 billion achieved in Q3 2019. Net operating income income after impairment loss on loans and receivables stood at N93.406 billion, also higher than the N79.812 billion filed in the corresponding quarter of 2019.
Total operating expenses increased from N52.034 billion in Q3 2019 to N60.533 billion in Q3 2020.
UBA grew profit before tax to N33.244 billion in the quarter under review from the N27.959 billion achieved in Q3 2020. Profit after tax rose from N24.888 billion in Q3 2019 to N32.702 billion in Q3 2020.
Commenting on the performance, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, UBA, Mr Kennedy Uzoka, said “Our 2020 results is yet another demonstration of the resilience of our business model in an extremely uncertain and tough operating environment.
“We recorded commendable growth in our underlying business in terms of customer acquisition, transaction volumes and balance sheet whilst inflation, depressed yield environment and exchange rate volatilities impacted our net earnings as anticipated.”