The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has recorded a 33.4 per cent growth in profit before tax which rose to N76.2billion, up from N57.1billion in the same period of 2020, translating to an annualized Return on Average Equity of 17.5 per cent as against 14.4 per cent a year earlier.

The results filed with the Nigerian Exchange, showed that the Group’s gross earnings grew 5.0 percent to N316billion from N300.6billion, while total assets rose to N8.3 trillion from N7.7trillion.

Customer Deposits also crossed the N6trillion mark growing by 7.4 per cent to N6.1trillion in the period under consideration, compared to N5.7 trillion as at December 2020.

The Group’s Shareholders’ Funds remained robust at N752.5billionn up from N724.1billion in December 2020, reflecting its strong capacity for internal capital generation.

In line with the bank’s culture of paying both interim and final cash dividends, the Board of Directors of UBA Plc has declared an interim dividend of 20kobo per share for every ordinary share of 50kobo each, held by its shareholders.

UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, expressed delight over the bank’s performance, adding, “This has been a strong first half for us, as global economic recovery exceeded expectations, creating a positive rub-off on consumer and corporate confidence, savings and investment activities.

“We saw this positively impact our business, as we continued to leverage our key strategic levers – People, Process and Technology, and our Customer 1st Philosophy, to revolutionize customer experience at UBA.”

UBA’s Group Chief Financial Officer, Ugo Nwaghodoh, on his part, noted that the bank’s goal is to achieve marked improvement in earnings quality whilst maintaining positive operating leverage as well as top-notch asset quality.