By Chioma Obinagwam
One of Nigeria’s fast growing retail lenders, Unity Bank Plc has declared a N2.2 billion profit for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022.
Confiance News gathered from the bank on Thursday.
Similarly, it recorded 17% growth in gross earnings to N42.2 billion for the same period, as against N36.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2021.
The increase, the bank disclosed, is not unconnected to new products that are focused on deep penetration and driving volume in the retail market space.
A review of the Agric-focused lender’s unaudited nine-month results released to the Nigerian Exchange Group Limited on Friday showed that the Bank’s Profit Before Tax, PBT rose by 5% to close at N2.206 billion. The Bank also recorded an equal marginal growth in its Profit After Tax, PAT which increased to N2.029 billion, representing a 5% rise from N1.9 billion recorded in the same period of 2021.
While maintaining the retail expansionary and customer-centric business model, Unity Bank Plc continued its growth momentum as total loans and advances as of September 30, 2022, reported N284.2 billion, which represents a 6% spurt from the N269.3 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021, even as the lender maintains strict compliance with the prevailing prudential guidelines.
Other key highlights of the 9-month financials include customer deposits of N334.7 billion which represents a 4% increase from N322.3 billion in the corresponding period. The position underscores the increasing uptake of the market for the Bank’s products innovation, and mass-market-oriented retail focus that continues to boil wide acceptance across various segments of the mass market.
The lender’s performance comes on the heels of a fragile recovery from the global pandemic buffeted by economic headwinds including rising inflationary trends, interest rate hikes, foreign exchange volatilities, etc. which have impacted severely on the overall economic outlook in the country and the rest of the world.
The lender also substantially grew its interest income to N36.3 billion from N31.4 billion in the same period in 2021, creating a 15% uptick from the value of the Bank’s loan asset portfolio.
The Bank’s increased investment in digital banking platform empowered its retail potential to deliver an impressive 17% growth in Fees and commissions to N5.3 billion closing September 30, 2022, from N4.6 billion recorded in the corresponding period in Year 2021.
Commenting on the result, the Managing Director/CEO of Unity Bank Plc, Mrs. Tomi Somefun said that the outlook for the full year 2022 remains positive, reflecting optimism, stability, and growth in key performance indicators. She noted that the growth trajectory recorded in the Bank’s revenue (17%), Profit (5%), and deposit (4%), etc., is a testament to the positive sentiment in the market, especially at a time the market is experiencing a downturn with high inflationary trend and volatility which impacts negatively on the operating environment.
She stated that “as we take further bold and audacious steps to round up the year on a stronger note, the Bank will create more initiatives even in the very short term to broaden its retail focus, ride on novel technology and digital Banking to push aggressively on product marketing in addition to major activations in identified market segments to attract sustainable streams of income for the Bank.
“The outlook for our financial position for the current year is bright as the Bank is increasingly innovating with products and collaborative strategies to diversify our portfolio businesses while taking advantage of robust technological resources to take on mass market & the unbanked sector thereby boosting income and liability generation and financial inclusion of the banking ecosystem,” she said.
In view of analysts, the growing retail franchise of the lender will create a sustainable income with a stronger foothold in the market which will impact business growth and the financial position of the Bank.
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