By Emeka Ejere
Considerable leap in key performance indices of United Bank of Africa Plc (UBA), in the first quarter of 2025 suggests, among other things, that the tier-1 lender is not ready to settle for anything less than a full-year scorecard that will place it on the league of N1trn profit-making banks in Nigeria.
For the first time in their corporate sojourn, GTCo Plc and Zenith Bank Plc broke the N1 trillion profit after tax (PAT) mark, for the year ended December 31, 2024, emerging as the first Nigerian banks to hit the milestone.
Whereas GTCo almost doubled its PAT to N1.02 trillion in the year many business operators considered one of the toughest in recent history, Zenith almost grew by 50 per cent to cross N1 trillion as well.
UBA, in the same vein, wowed with PAT surging by 26.14% to N766.5 billion, up from N607.6 billion in 2023, and the highest annual profit ever recorded by the Bank, solidifying its status as one of Nigeria’s most consistently performing financial institutions.
Like GTCo and Zenith, UBA is among the systemically important banks (SIBs) – otherwise considered too big to fail, as well as one of Nigeria’s FUGAZ banks (FirstHoldCo, UBA, GTCO, Access Holdings, and Zenith Bank),
Also, UBA’s total assets of N30.3 trillion place it among the top three largest financial institutions in the country in 2024, trailing only Access Holdings and Zenith Bank.
Now with the tier-one players entering a 12-digit post-tax profit era, the pan-African lender is exploring every avenue at its disposal to grow the income figures in order not to be left behind.
This is evident in the stellar performance put up by the top lender as it released its unaudited financial results for the first quarter (Q1) ended March 31, 2025, with remarkable double-digit growth across all its major income lines.
UBA saw its PBT rising impressively to N204.26 billion in Q1 2025, up by 31 per cent from N156,34 billion in Q1 2024, while PAT jumped from N142.58 billion last year, to N189.84 billion representing a remarkable increase by 33.15 per cent.
The group’s gross earnings closed Q1 2025 at N764.31 billion, a significant increase of 34.05 per cent from N570.2 billion in Q1 2024 while interest income which stood at N440.76 billion in Q1 2024, grew by 36.09per cent to N599.83 billion in Q1 2025.
The Bank’s total assets continued on its upward trend as it increased by 4.58 per cent from N30.23 trillion in December 2024 to N31.71trillion in March 2025, while shareholders’ funds also rose to N3.7trillion up from N3.4 trillion recorded in December 2024.
Commenting on the results, the Group Managing Director at UBA, Oliver Alawuba, said the bank is on a solid start for the 2025 financial year which, according to him, reflects disciplined execution of its strategy and the sustained momentum of the business model of driving strong earnings growth, maintaining robust asset quality, and expanding market share.
He said: “Our results this quarter underscore the effectiveness of our focus on core banking operations, prudent risk management, and ongoing investments in customer-centric innovation.
“The Group recorded a profit before tax of N204.2 billion, with total deposits up eight per cent from N24.65 trillion at FY 2024 to N26.64 trillion. Total assets rose five per cent to N31.7 trillion, compared to N30.3 trillion at year-end, driven by balanced growth across all our business segments.
“These strong results were achieved in the face of persistent macroeconomic headwinds, geopolitical risks and global trade uncertainties,” he stated.
According to the GMD, UBA remains focused on disciplined growth and continued investment in technology, data, innovation, and talent in ensuring that customer experience is consistently enhanced to create long-term value for all stakeholders.
UBA’s Executive Director, Finance and Risk Management, Ugo Nwaghodoh, noted that the double-digit growth in the bank’s core earnings profile is a key highlight of the quarter, with profits underpinned by resilient income from lending, transaction banking, and fee-based services demonstrating the strength and sustainability of UBA’s earnings engine.
On his projections for the rest of the 2025 financial year, he said, “Our balance sheet remains solid, underpinned by conservative risk management and sustained investment in scalable digital infrastructure.
“These foundations position us well to navigate ongoing market volatility and headwinds, while continuing to deliver consistent returns and long-term value for our shareholders.”
Review of FY2024 performance
Despite the highly challenging global economic and business environment, UBA recorded an impressive rise in its PAT, which went up by 26.14 percent to close the year at N766.6 billion, up from N607.7 billion recorded at the end of the 2023 fiscal year.
The bank’s gross earnings also grew significantly from N2.08 trillion recorded at the end of the 2023 financial year to N3.19 trillion in the period under consideration, representing a 53.6 percent growth.
Like in the previous years, the banks’ total assets also rose remarkably by 46.8 percent, from N20.65 trillion in 2023, to close at N30.4 trillion in December 2024; signifying a milestone leap for the bank with the largest spread across the continent.
The Bank recorded a PBT of N803.72 billion representing a 6.1 percent increase from N757.68 billion recorded at the end of the 2023 financial year.
Consequently, UBA Group Shareholders’ Funds rose from N2.030 trillion as at December 2023 to close the 2024 financial year at N3.419 trillion, achieving an impressive growth of 68.39 percent.
As a result of the impressive performance and in fulfilment of the promise made by the UBA Group Chairman, Tony Elumelu, to shareholders at the last Annual General Meeting, the Bank proposed a final dividend of N3.00 kobo for every ordinary share of 50 kobo, for the financial year ended December 31, 2024, bringing the total dividend in the year to N5.00.
Cross-border benefit
UBA’s 2024 results reflect an interesting trend of a growing contribution from its pan-African operations. According to the bank’s disclosures, about 51.7% of group revenue came from its Rest of Africa segment—businesses located outside Nigeria but within the African continent.
This marks a significant shift compared to 2019 when UBA’s African subsidiaries contributed just 31% of total revenue. With operations in over 20 African countries, UBA continues to consolidate its position as one of Nigeria’s most successful cross-border banking institutions.
Recapitalisation
The Chairman of UBA, Mr Tony Elumelu, has said the bank will meet the CBN’s recapitalisation requirement of N500bn before the third quarter of 2025, well ahead of the March 2026 deadline for commercial banks with international authorisation.
Elumelu, who gave the assurance while addressing shareholders at the bank’s 65th Annual General Meeting held at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, said UBA had already taken significant steps towards achieving the target, including the successful completion of a rights issue in 2024.
“Our current capital in the year 2024 was N116bn. However, following the rights issue that we launched in November last year, which was oversubscribed, N251bn has been verified and approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria,” he said.
The rights issue, which closed in December, saw 6.84 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each offered to existing shareholders at N35 per share.
Elumelu noted that although the issue was oversubscribed by N11.6bn, the Bank could only take up N240bn, returning the balance to shareholders. This brought UBA’s new capital base to N355.2bn, with the remaining N144.8bn expected to be raised before the end of the year.
Also at the AGM, the shareholders of the Bank approved a total dividend of N5 per share for the year ended December 31, 2024.
The Bank having paid an interim dividend of N2.00 per share in the course of the 2024 financial year, a final dividend of N3.00 per share was declared, making it a total N5.00 per share.
