UBA first quarter profit hits N16bn

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, yesterday, announced a profit of N16 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2012, surpassing the N15.1 billion profit forecast announced earlier on in the year.
The  bank’s unaudited first quarter results released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)  showed that Gross Earnings increased by 33 per cent to N53.9 billion from N40.5 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2011.  Profit before tax grew by over 200 per cent to N16.1 billion compared to N4.8 billion in the corresponding period of last year.
Other details of the results:  Cost to income ratio dropped to 65 per cent from 77.7 per cent in 2011, as the benefits of the group’s Global Shared Service centre and other cost control measures kick in.  With solid capital adequacy and liquidity ratios of 22.94 per cent and 57.02 per cent respectively, UBA capped the first quarter performance on a strong note.
In a related development, UBA also released its full year results and in line with the February profit warning, the bank recorded a loss of N10.5 billion principally due to one-off write-offs, including those arising from the transfer of loans to the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON). In spite of that, balance sheet growth in 2011 was quite impressive with total assets increasing to N1.94 trillion, a growth of 20 per cent from the N1.62 trillion achieved in 2010.
Contributing to growth in balance sheet was increased borrowings and deposits, which grew by 134 per cent and 14 per cent respectively. With a loan to deposit ratio of 48 per cent and a strong capital adequacy ratio, the UBA group has significant capacity for credit creation in the coming quarters.