By Chinwendu Obienyi
United Capital Plc (UCAP) has said it has committed to improving on its financial performance and shareholders’ returns in the next financial year.
This was even as the group noted that it is working assiduously with its registrars and other stakeholders to reduce the amount of unclaimed dividends in the nation’s capital market.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, UCAP, Peter Ashade, stated this during the company’s Q3 2021 Investors and Analysts call via Zoom recently. Ashade disclosed that the company ended the third quarter (Q3) of the year with another outstanding performance and added that it delivered an increased revenue of 60 per cent year-on-year, Profit before tax (PBT) growth of 72 per cent year-on-year to N7.09 billion and total asset growth of 80 per cent year-to-date (ytd).
He also revealed that the company’s InvestNow app which is a shop of investment opportunities now has total accounts of 17,622 accounts since its inception in 2017 while the value of transactions processed as at September 2021 is over N869 million.
“During the period under review, United Capital successfully listed three series commercial papers (CPs) worth N19.72 billion on FMDQ Securities Exchange. The CPs was issued under the company’s N50 billion commercial paper issuance program. This has further positioned us as a company to provide a wider range of wholesale financing solutions to our clients and complement the funding base and support for all our businesses”, he said. When quizzed on how the company intends to sustain its financial performance, Ashade stated that each of the company’s businesses is in competition with each other and this speaks on how strong its businesses are.
“First of all, our businesses have clear strategies on how we are operating and this is done to add value to our shareholders. Hence we are on the right track to deliver strong performance at the close of the financial year. We are also working hard with our registrars on unclaimed dividends and this is because we know that unclaimed dividends still remain a challenge in the capital market and we want to play our own part in reducing unclaimed dividends.
This is why over 90 per cent of dividends was paid out to shareholders and we want to be able to reach a 100 per cent on that. We remain focused on our transformation agenda and to continue to provide best-in-class solutions to all client segments. We are also committed to deliver superior returns as we seek to always delight our shareholders”, the UCAP boss said.