This is up from the US$283.7 million it posted the same period last year and represents over 12.3 per cent growth in performance.

In the bank’s third quarter financial report filed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the report showed that UBA recorded an impressive growth across all its major indices, replicating the commendable performance it achieved in the first two quarters of the current fiscal year.

Specifically, the bank’s gross earnings rose to US$1.4 billion, up from US$1.13billion recorded in September 2021, while operating income also grew by 27.3 per cent to close at US$951.9 million as at September 2022, up from US$769.6million achieved a year earlier.

The bank continues to maintain a strong balance sheet, with total assets rising to US$21.2 billion, representing a 9.1 per cent increase over the US$19.4 billion recorded at the end of December 2021.

The bank benefitted largely from its technology-led initiatives targeted at improving customer experience over the past few years.

Its customer deposits rose to US$16.06 billion, representing a 10.4 per cent rise, up from US$14.6 billion at the end of the last financial year.

The bank’s shareholder funds remained very strong at US$1.85 billion up from US$1.84 billion recorded in December 2021 again reflecting a strong capacity for internal capital generation and growth.

Customer satisfaction

Commenting on the result, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer at UBA, Oliver Alawuba, stated that the group continues to show notable operating resilience amid significant headwinds in its present markets amid heightened global risk environment.

He added that its strong diversification model and unwavering focus on customer satisfaction continues to give the bank an edge over its peers in the industry.

He said, “We continue to reap the benefits of our diversification strategy and customer -first philosophy and build resilience in our operations across Africa and the rest of the world to support the mission of providing superior value to our stakeholders.

“This has translated into strong financial gains evident in growth in our customer deposits and Net interest margin. In addition, we are strategically positioned to drive our market share in our operating countries, with the strong growth of our payments and transaction banking offerings,” Mr Alawuba said.

Remaining cautious

The Executive Director in-charge of Finance and Risk Management at UBA, Ugo Nwaghodoh, said “We remain very cautious in risk asset creation as we defensively position our asset portfolios to minimise the impact of the heightened credit risk. Consequently, our NPL ratio remains within acceptable threshold at 3.2 per cent,” he said.

He added that United Bank for Africa Plc was a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than 25 million customers, across 1,000 business offices and customer touch-points in 20 African countries.

“With presence in New York, London, Paris, and Dubai, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail, commercial and corporate banking, innovative cross-border payments and remittances, trade finance and ancillary banking services,” he said.