Business
UBA declares N316.4bn half-year profit, N2 dividend
UBA declares N316.4bn half-year profit, N2 dividend
Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has released its audited financial results for the half year ended June 30, 2024, with an impressive performance across key financial indicators.
Specifically, the bank recorded a pre-tax profit of N401.5 billion and N316 billion after-tax profit in the year under consideration.
The bank said in a statement on Monday that this was achieved despite the tough macroeconomic climate in Nigeria and the geopolitical environment challenges where it operates.
According to UBA’s Head of Media and External Relations, Ramon Nasir, the audited financials released to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Monday showed that the bank recorded double-digit growth in its gross earnings and operating incomes. showed that the bank recorded double-digit growth in its operating incomes.
He said interest income rose by 134.3 per cent, reaching N1 trillion compared to N428.2 billion recorded in June last year while total assets grew by 37.2 percent, increasing from N20.6 trillion in December 2023 to N28.3 trillion.
He said customer deposits increased by 33.7 per cent during the same period, reaching N23.2 trillion, up from N17.3 trillion recorded at the end of 2023.
“The results filed showed that profit before tax (PBT) which stood at N403 billion in June 2023, closed the half year at N402 billion, while profit after tax (PAT) dropped slightly from N378 billion to N316 billion in the year under consideration,” he said.
He added, “However, the banks’ shareholders funds increased by 47 percent from N2.03 trillion in December 2023, to N2.99 trillion.”
Nasir also said UBA’s board of directors declared an interim dividend of N2 per share for each ordinary share of N0.50 kobo, marking a 300 percent increase compared to the N0.50 kobo declared during the same period in 2023.
He said this was in line with the bank’s culture of paying both interim and final cash dividends.
Commenting on the results, UBA’s Group Managing Director/CEO, Oliver Alawuba, stressed the bank’s commitment to consistently deliver value to its shareholders.
He said, “UBA Group has continued to deliver strong double-digit growth in high quality and sustainable banking revenue streams, driven by a focused growth in balance sheet, transaction and digital banking businesses across geographies in line with our strategic goals.
“The Group’s performance has been buoyed by consistent strong growth in all core and sustainable banking income lines. Our intermediation business showed strong growth with net interest income expanding by 143% YoY to N675 billion.
“As the Group intensifies its customer acquisition drive, we are making significant investments in technology, data analytics, product research and innovation to enhance our value proposition and customer experience.”
The UBA’s Executive Director on Finance and Risk, Ugo Nwaghodoh, expressed delight at the milestones achieved by the bank in driving operational efficiency.
“Our cost optimisation provides scope for further moderation, as we explore options towards a drastic reduction of our foreign currency denominated cost components, robotizing and automation of processes and application of artificial intelligence to our operations,” Nwaghodoh said.
He said the group would focus on effectively managing the heightened credit, operational, cyber and information security risks, as it continues to conduct its business within the tenets of UBA’s moderate risk appetite in alignment with the company’s sustainability goals.
The executive director said the group was on track to strengthen its share capital to support its medium to long-term goals while complying with recent regulatory requirements in Nigeria and other regions where it operates.
Aviation
Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight
Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight
An Abuja-Lagos flight was on Thursday aborted following a bird strike on the airplane belonging to Air Peace, forcing the authorities to ground the aircraft.
The bird strike experienced in the early hours reportedly prompted a ramp return to ensure the safety of passengers onboard.
All the passengers quickly disembarked and were calmed down before they were moved into another plane for the one-hour journey.
A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft, or other airborne animal, while the aircraft is in flight, taking off, or landing. And it can be a significant threat to aircraft safety.
Air Peace in a statement by its Head of Corporate Communications, Ejike Ndiulo, said the bird strike occurred at 6:30am, and all passengers disembarked normally.
The statement read, “We wish to inform our esteemed passengers that our Abuja- Lagos 06:30 flight experienced a bird strike before take-off, prompting a ramp return as a safety measure. All passengers disembarked normally.
“We have deployed a replacement aircraft for the affected flight in order to minimize disruptions, thus ensuring that passengers continue their journeys promptly.
“We appeal for the understanding of our valued passengers impacted by this development, as well as those on other flights that may experience delays.
“At Air Peace, we are committed to providing safe, comfortable, and reliable air travel for all our passengers.”
Business
NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production
NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and its partners have revved up crude oil and gas production to 1.8million barrels per day (mbpd) and 7.4standard cubic feet per day (scfd).
The company which announced this at a press briefing said the feat was achieved in compliance with the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Speaking on the development, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mele Kyari, congratulated the Production War Room Team that anchored the production recovery process.
“The team has done a great job in driving this project of not just production recovery but also escalating production to expected levels that are in the short and long terms acceptable to our shareholders based on the mandates that we
have from the President, the Honourable Minister, and the Board,” Kyari explained.
Giving details of the efforts of the Production War Room, the Chief War Room Coordinator and Senior Business Adviser to the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lawal Musa, disclosed that the feat was achieved through the collaborative efforts of Joint Venture and Production Sharing Contract partners, the Office of the National Security Adviser, as well as government and private security agencies.
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He said the interventions that led to the recovery of production cut across every segment of the production chain with security agencies closely monitoring the pipelines.
He stressed that when the Production War Room team was inaugurated on 25th June 2024, production was at 1.430mbpd, but the team swung into action, culminating into sustaining the production recovery to 1.7mbpd in August and hitting the current 1.808mbpd in November.
“We are confident that with this same momentum and with the active collaboration of all stakeholders, especially on the security front, we can see the possibility of getting to 2mbpd by the end of the year,” he stated.
Also speaking on the development, Chairman of the NNPC Ltd Board of Directors, Chief Pius Akinyelure, who also congratulated the team, said he was happy to be part of the production recovery process, adding: “today, I will leave this place with my heart full of joy”.
He charged the Company’s Management to come up with a cashflow projection based on the new production figures to facilitate planning, stressing that he was looking forward to further production increase to 3mbpd.
On his part, the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the team and pledged the Federal Government’s support for the company to do more.
NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production
Business
FG gets fresh $134m loan from AfDB for agric projects
FG gets fresh $134m loan from AfDB for agric projects
The Federal Government has secured a loan facility of $134million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to help farmers boost seeds and grain production in the country.
This is contained in a statement issued by Anthonia Eremah, Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, on Thursday, in Abuja.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, made his know at the unveiling of the 2024/2025 National Dry Season Farming in Calabar, Cross River State capital.
Kyari explained that with the re-introduction of the national dry season farming to boost year-round agricultural production, the loan would be handy and guarantee national food security in the country.
The minister said the initiative is under the National Agricultural Growth Support Scheme-Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) Project.
He said the federal government had declared an emergency on food production to enable all Nigerians to get easy access to quality and nutritional food at affordable rates.
Kyari also said government wants to use the agricultural sector for national economic revival through increase in production of some staple food crops such as wheat, rice, maize, sorghum, soybean, and cassava during both dry and wet season farming.
He added that 107,429 wheat farmers were supported under phase 1 of the 2023/2024 dry season, and 43,997 rice farmers under the second phase of the 2023/2024 dry season.
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The minister said recently, government supported 192,095 rice, maize, sorghum/millet, soyabean and cassava farmers under the 2024 wet season across the 37 States including the FCT.
He said Cross River was leading 16 other states in wheat production, adding that over 3000 wheat farmers have been listed to benefit from the support to grow the grain.
Kyari noted the Cross River government’s commitment to wheat production.
He said it informed why the federal government is partnering with the state to kick start the maiden wheat production and enlisting them among states commencing the current 2024/2025 dry season farming.
“The 2024/2025 dry season farming, the project is targeted to support 250,000 wheat farmers across the wheat-producing states with subsidised agricultural inputs.
“This is to cultivate about 250,000 hectares with an expected output of about 750,000 metric tonnes of wheat to be added to the food reserve to reduce dependence on importation of the product and also increase domestic consumption.
“Equally the programme will provide support to 150,000 rice farmers under the second phase to cover all the 37 states, including FCT, with an expected output of about 450,000 metric tonnes,” he said.
FG gets fresh $134m loan from AfDB for agric projects
(NAN)
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