Chinwendu Obienyi
Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) Plc, has assured its shareholders that it will double its efforts at delivering financial targets as well as improved returns in 2019.
This was even as its shareholders approved the Group’s 2018 annual accounts presented by the Chairman of the Board, Mr Cyril Odu, at the bank’s 50th Annual General Meeting (AGM) which held in Lagos on Tuesday.
While addressing shareholders at the AGM, Odu highlighted some major achievements of the bank in 2018 which included: strengthening retail and transaction banking offerings and the launch of the first Local Letter of Credit to support local trade; the launch of the inaugural N13.5 billion Bond issue and the adoption of the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology – the first to do so in Nigeria.
Major highlights of the Group’s financial performance in 2018 show that profit before tax grew by 33 per cent to N18.5 billion from N13.9 billion in 2017. Customer deposits also went up by 7 per cent to N857.6 billion compared to N802.4 billion in 2017, sustaining its upward trajectory since 2016 and an indication of consumers’ growing confidence in the brand.
As a result of aggressive focus on recoveries, Union Bank’s Non-Performing Loan ratio declined to 8.1 per cent in December 2018 from 20.8 per cent as at December 2017. In addition, the Return on Tangible Equity (ROTE) improved to 9.6 from 6.2 per cent in 2017 demonstrating long-term shareholder value enhancement. Odu said, “We have positioned Union Bank to take advantage of the emerging opportunities in the economy and remain optimistic about the future of the bank. We will execute our 2019-2021 strategic objectives – Sweating our Assets, Digitising our bank, and positioning for the future – towards being Nigeria’s most reliable and trusted banking partner.