UBA will sustain growth trajectory, create value for shareholders — Elumelu

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has assured shareholders and investors of its unwavering commitment to sustain its current growth trajectory even as its efforts at business diversification across Africa and beyond continues to yield increasing returns.

The Group Chairman, Tony Elumelu, who made this declaration at UBA’s 60th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Abuja, noted that the bank’s strategic investment decisions over the past few years have indeed translated to huge returns for its investors, despite the challenging business environment witnessed in the last two years.

“I am proud of how as a Group, we have been able to further consolidate on the new capabilities we have built, novel customer solutions we have deployed, efficiency gains recorded and the growth prospects we have leveraged from a recovering world.

“These were the building blocks for the very strong financial performance and the growth delivered by your Group in 2021, further confirming the wisdom of the investments we made and the strategy we have pursued, to ensure the diversification and sustainability of our business model.”

He expressed confidence over the bank’s capacity to sustain the growth momentum especially as economic activities recover from the impact of the Covid -19 pandemic.

Also speaking, UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Kennedy Uzoka, said: “We are happy that the global community recognises the role our Group is playing in the transformation of the African economic landscape through innovative and customer focused banking services.”

He pointed out that the bank’s business in the United Kingdom had specifically witnessed remarkable expansion, adding “As from July 2021, UBA UK started making profit, and even to date, they are still doing well, and the same can be said for many of our African subsidiaries.

“The truth is that we are driven by the opportunities and potential in each of the geographies that we invested in, and we are happy with what we have achieved so far’.

Shareholders who spoke at the meeting including Sir Sunny Nwosu, Alhaji Farouk Umar, Mr. Nonah Awoh, Mr. Patrick Ajuda, Mrs. Bisi Bakare and Chief Timothy Adesiyan, were unanimous in their commendation of the board and management of UBA, for the impressive financials which have translated to higher dividends for shareholders.

At the end of the 2021 financial year, UBA’s Profit Before Tax grew by 20.3 per cent to N153.1 billion, compared to N127.3 billion in 2020; while Profit After Tax rose by 8.7 per cent to N118.7 billion in 2021 from N109.2 billion recorded the previous year. As a result, the bank proposed a final dividend of 80 kobo for the year ended December 31, 2021, bringing the total dividend for the year to N1.00. The bank had earlier paid an interim dividend of 20 kobo.