By Chinwendu Obienyi
The Chief Executive Officer, Union Bank Plc, Mudassir Amray, has expressed confidence that the bank has all the necessary ingredients to be a tier 1 bank.
This was even as the bank announced that it recorded a profit of N12.3 billion in the six months (H1) of 2022.
According to its unaudited financial statements for the quarter ended 30th June, 2022, the bank’s profit before tax (PBT) grew by 6.7 per cent to N12.3 billion as against N11.5 billion recorded in the corresponding of 2021. Also, the bank’s gross earnings rose by N12.5 per cent from N77.7 billion in 2021 to N87.4 billion, while customer’s deposits increased by 7 per cent to N1.5 trillion from N1.4 trillion recorded in 2021.
However, its Non-interest income fell by 24.1 per cent to N21.1 billion (N27.7 billion in H1 2021) due to foreign exchange revaluation losses, while Non-performing loans ratio was flat at 4.4 per cent (4.3 per cent as at June 2021).
Commenting on the bank’s performance, Amray noted that the bank is now focused on strengthening the core business and improving operational efficiencies across board following the successful acquisition of its majority shares by Titan Trust Bank (TTB).
He added that in parallel, the bank will be going full throttle on integrating the two banks to form a ‘stronger Union’ positioned to deliver value to all stakeholders, leveraging technology and digital innovation, stating that the integration is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter (Q3 2022).
“In H1 2022, compared to H1 2021, the bank’s Gross Earnings, Net Interest Income and PAT grew by 12.5 per cent, 41 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively. Since taking over the reins as Chief Executive Officer as of June 2nd, 2022, I am confident that the bank has all the necessary ingredients to be a tier 1 bank.
As we drive towards a seamless integration in the second half of the year, we remain committed to achieving our business objectives. We are excited about exploiting the synergies from the newly expanded franchise post integration”, he said.
Speaking on the H1 2022 numbers, Chief Financial Officer, Joe Mbulu said: “Our capital and liquidity positions remained above regulatory levels, with CAR at 16.4 percent and liquidity ratio of 39.2 percent further demonstrating the capacity of our strong balance sheet. Our non-performing loan ratio ended at 4.4 percent.