Unity Bank grows Total Assets by 50.8%

Unity Bank Plc has grown its balance sheet for the 2018 financial year recording a whopping 50.8 percent growth during the year. In its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018, released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE the Bank’s Balance Sheet Size increased from N156.51billion in 2017 to N235.98 billion, culminating in Gross earnings of N37.33 billion for the year. Similarly, in the period under review, the bank grew it bottom-line by 109.9 percent as Profit Before Tax (PBT) moved in a positive trajectory to close at N1.41 billion, with the Bank recording a Profit after Tax (PAT) of N1.27 billion, shaking off the negative position it posted in 2017. The year’s performance is supported by noticeable fundamentals derived from the Bank’s corporate action to clean up its book by eliminating all the legacy non-performing loans (NPLs) which resulted in full de-risking of its balance sheet and creating a new lease of life for the Bank.

A cursory review of the Bank’s performance shows significant growth across key financial metrics, with Net Operating Income for the year ended December31, 2018 growing by 112% to N21.63 billion from N10.22 billion in the corresponding period of 2017, Non-Interest Income also increased to N6.3billion from N1.61bn recorded in 2017 and earnings per share (EPS) for the year 2018 stood at 13.03 kobo, up from negative of 127kobo recorded in 2017. The Bank’s improved performance is attributable to the reinvigorated business transformation initiatives implemented during the year, in addition to strategic corporate actions taken by the Management of the Bank to prioritize customer service, product delivery as well as optimize its operations for operational efficiency, thus setting a stage for its sustainable business growth model. A statement from the Bank further adds that the Board of the bank expects that barring unforeseen circumstances, the trend of the results achieved in 2018 would be surpassed in 2019. With the margins steadily looking up, the outlook for the future holds even brighter prospects for the Bank even at this period that the Bank closes its recapitalization programme and sets a new phase of its strategic pursuit. The Bank’s Board further expects that barring unforeseen circumstances, the trend of the results achieved in 2018 would be surpassed in 2019.

Source: Vanguard