Emmanuel Ukudolo I Tuesday, April 24, 2018
LAGOS, Nigeria – United Bank for Africa Plc has been licensed to operate formally as a commercial bank in the United Kingdom and Mali, making it to have a strong presence in 20 African countries, United Kingdom, United States and France.
Chairman UBA, Chief Tony Elumelu made the revelation at the 26th Annual General Meeting of the bank in Lagos just as the bank earned N105 billion as profit before tax, an impressive 16 percent growth over N138. 150 billion obtained in the year ended 2016.
“This strong profitablity reflects the increasing contribution of our African subsidiaries where we continue to gain market share and deepen penetration. Our group’s profitability in the year reflects efficiency gains from management’s initiative on processes and treasury management”, he said, explaining that management opted to venture into Mali becaue it is good for business.
He told shareholders that balance sheet grew year-on-year to across the N4 trillion mark with BASEL II capital adequacy ratio of 20 percent being the highest in the industry ahead of the 15 percent mininum regulatory requirment in Nigeria.
UBA Plc also paid tax to the tune of N26. 674 billion, leaving it with N78. 600 billion as profit after tax. The board of directors also approved a dividend of N0.65 kobo per share from retained earnings accounts at 31st December , 2017. This final dividend is in addition to the N0.20 kobo per share paid as interim dividend, briging the total dividend approved for payment to N0.85 kobo per share.
Speaking on one of its newest technological innovation, Group Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka said to entrench its leadership position, the bank is pioneering technology disruption and innovation and redefining banking through new digital offerings.
“We do not want to react to competition and market disruptions, rather we aim to be the game changer. It is on this note that we are pioneering new initiative in lifestyle banking, offering new services that align with our customers’ need”, he said of the new product, “Leo”.
According to him, ‘Leo’ is Virtual Banking Robot, which in partnership with Facebook avails the opportunity to serve customers through Facebook chat and in the process bringing banking services to the fingertips of customers.
“Just say what you want and ‘Leo’, our Virtual Banking Robot will act immediately”, Uzoka said, adding that 60,000 accounts were opened and reactivated within two weeks of launching the product
