The United Bank for Africa (UBA), a leading financial institution in Nigeria and Africa, grew its interest income by 134% from N428.292 billion in the first half (H1) of 2023 to cross the N1 trillion mark in June 2024, according to the bank’s latest financial statement.

In the financial statement obtained by Investors King, Interest income on amortised cost and FVOCI securities also increased to N967.830 billion, a whopping 126.29% from N427.689 billion recorded in the corresponding period.

Similarly, net interest income appreciated 142.6% from N278.113 billion in H1 2023 to N674.618 billion in H1 2024.

Net interest income after impairment on financial instruments stood at N614.406 billion, a 394.8% increase from N124.169 billion filed in H1 2023.

Net fee and commission income rose by 85.3% from 78.296 billion in the same period in 2023 to N145.097 billion in H1 2024.

The leading financial institution’s profit before income tax rose to N401.577 billion while the bank paid N85.217 billion in tax during the period under review.

Profit after tax stood at N316.360 billion.

The bank proposed an interim dividend of N2.00 per share from the retained earnings account as at 30 June 2024.

This proposed interim dividend amounting to a pay-out ratio of 7.3% (30 June 2023:2.9%), and a yield of 8.9%.

The board of FBN Holdings Plc on Thursday announced that billionaire Olufemi Otedola has increased his holdings in the company a few weeks after Oba Otudeko’s shares were reduced to 3,110,400,619 due to his failure to prove ownership of the remaining 2,275,996,583 shares.

In a regulatory filing, Otedola purchased 534,094,407 shares between September 23 and 25 at N30.00 per share in Lagos, Nigeria. The billionaire paid N16.023 billion for the shares.

In July, Otedola paid N17.2 billion to acquire 797,946,415 shares at N21.58 per share, pushing his total stake to 11.64%.

While the latest purchase represents 1.49% of FBN Holdings, Otedola’s total stake in the bank is now 13.16% or 4.712 billion of the company’s total outstanding shares of 35.895 billion.

Olufemi Peter Otedola CON is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist. He is the former chairman of Forte Oil Plc, and is the current executive chairman of Geregu Power PLC.

Otedola is also the founder of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, and the owner of a number of other businesses across shipping, real estate and finance.

He has recently invested in power generation as part of the liberalization of the sector in Nigeria.

Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) reported a N572 trillion cashless boom due to an increase in electronic instant transfers in the country, resulting in a decline in point of sale (POS) transactions.

On Thursday, 26th of August, 2024, NIBSS revealed that electronic instant transfer has increased by 84.37 percent to the N572.63 trillion reported in the first seven months of 2024.

In 2023, NIBSS reported that cashless payments had risen by 55 percent to N600 trillion cashless transactions from N387 trillion in 2022.

The statistics were based on NIBSS cashless transactions tracking across instant payments and PoS channels which recorded N10.73 trillion as the total value of point of sale (PoS) transactions for 2023, compared to N8.39 trillion recorded in 2022.

It was also reported that a 58 percent increase in smartphone penetration in urban areas as of 2022 made mobile applications the preferred method for conducting transactions, driving online transfers, and relegating ATM transactions and PoS usage.

“Everyone accepts transfers now, even people that sell in traffic,” said Temiloluwa Lawal, a tech expert.

“Even Keke drivers are accepting transfers,” Daniel Ishie, a mobile money agent, added.

Although, PoS transactions, had been a leading force when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced its Naira redesign policy and withdrawal limits in 2022. Yet, there was an 8.19 percent decline to N6.23 trillion over the same period.

However, as of July 2024, there is an 802.93 percent to 4.06 million increase in the number of registered PoS terminals from 449,998 in January 2020.

According to the 2024 Nigerian Payments Report, “POS transactions play a pivotal role in providing enhanced convenience, speed, and security, contributing to the ongoing transformative shift towards heightened adoption of cashless transactions in Nigeria.”

“It is evident that the tremendous growth of Mobile App Transfers, Online Transfers, MMOs, and the NIP together paint a clear picture that Nigeria’s payment system is becoming much more cashless and much more dependent,” Zone remarked.