L-R: Group Chief Risk Officer, United Bank for Africa(UBA Group), Mrs Awele Ajibola; Chairman, UBA Cote d'Ivoire, Mr. Kouame Kouassi; Non-Exective Director, Chairman, Board Risk Management Committee, UBA Group, Mrs. Caroline Anyanwu; Group Chairman, UBA, Mr. Tony Elumelu; Group Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Oliver Alawuba; Non-Executive Director and Chairman, Board Audit, Governance, Nomination and Renumeration Committee, UBA Group, Ms Angela Aneke; Non-Executive Director and Chairman, Board Operations & Technology Committee, UBA Group, Mrs. Henrietta Ugboh; and Chairman, UBA Cameroon, Mr. Ebenezer Essoka, during the Interactive Panel Session on Governance and Risk at the 2025 Group Chairman’s Forum in Abuja on Wednesday.

UBA post-tax profit jumps to N189bn in Q1 2025

By Seun Ibiyemi

United Bank for Africa (UBA) reported post-tax profit of N189 billion in the first three months of 2025, maintaining a steady rise for the past six years.

The pan-African lender saw interest income rise to N599.8 billion, a 36 percent increase from N440.7 billion recorded at the same time in 2024, as six consecutive upward rate adjustments by the apex bank enabled banks to charge more for loans.

Since Governor Olayemi Cardoso assumed office, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the CBN has raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) six consecutive times.

However, during its 299th meeting on February 20, 2025, the committee decided to retain the benchmark MPR at 27.5 percent, citing the recent rebasing of Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Following the CPI rebasing by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s headline inflation rate dropped significantly to 24.5 percent year-on-year in January 2025, compared to the pre-rebasing rate of 34.8 percent in December 2024. As of March 2025, inflation eased slightly to 24.23 percent.

Net interest income, a barometer for profitability measuring the difference between how much lenders earn from loans and what they pay to savers for keeping their deposits, increased by 16.7 percent to N351 billion from N300.6 billion

Similarly, net trading and foreign exchange income improved by 236.3 percent to N37 billion on the back of increased yield from fixed-income securities.

Non-interest income increased during the period by 45.8 percent to N112.3 billion, driven by gains from investment securities, net fees and commission income, and FX trading.

Operating income also increased to N464.2 billion in the three months from N378.5 billion recorded in 2024, while net operating income after impairment loss on loans and receivables increased by 20 percent to N450 billion recorded in the first three months of the year from N375 billion recorded in 2024.

Operating expenses in the three months rose to N245 billion from N218 billion in 2024, on the back of other operating expenses, which recorded N148.5 billion, fuelled by a rise in costs incurred from fuel, repairs, and maintenance.

Spending on fuel, repairs, and maintenance recorded was N31.1 billion for the quarter, an increase of 6.04 percent compared to the same quarter of 2024.

UBA’s total assets rose to N31.7 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2025, a 25.2 percent.

Customers’ deposits increased at the end of the first quarter to N22.8 trillion, from N18.3 trillion recorded in the same quarter of 2024.

Cash and cash equivalents for the first quarter of 2025 increased to N5.1 trillion, from N4.8 trillion recorded in the same quarter of 2024.

Net cash generated from operating activities recorded at the end of the first quarter of 2025 increased to N2.1 trillion from N2.05 trillion recorded in the same period of 2024, while net cash used in investing activities decreased to N-553 billion from N-648 billion.

Net cash generated from financing activities reduced to N-148 billion recorded at the end of the first quarter from N-129 billion.

Its earnings per share grew by 35.1 percent to N5.35 compared to N3.96 reported in the same period of 2024.

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