The result of Unity Bank Plc for the 2018 financial year, showed 50.8% growth in balance sheet from N156.51 billion in 2017 to N235.98 billion in 2018.The audited financial statements presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), also showed gross earnings of N37.33 billion in the period under review.
Similarly, Profit Before Tax (PBT) moved in a positive trajectory to close at N1.41 billion, with the lender recording a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N1.27 billion, shaking off the negative position it posted in 2017.
The bank’s performance was supported by noticeable fundamentals derived from corporate action to clean up its books by eliminating all the legacy non-performing loans, which resulted to full de-risking of balance sheet, enabling a new lease of life.Other performance indices showed significant growth across key financial metrics, with net operating income for the year ended December 31, 2018 growing by 112% to N21.63 billion from N10.22 billion in the corresponding period of 2017.
Non-Interest Income also increased to N6.3 billion from N1.61 billion recorded in 2017, as earnings per share for the 2018 stood at 13.03 kobo, up from –127 kobo recorded in 2017.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Tomi Somefun said: “The most gratifying aspect of our 2018 performance, is that the bank has made a dramatic turnaround from losses in the previous year to a promising profit position in 2018. “This was made possible by growth in the business throughputs and transaction-based banking with its attendant strong non-interest income. “We equally recorded significant growth in our customer acquisition through enhanced customer-centric products that we rolled out during the year, riding on our rebranded channels and platforms, which were well accepted by the youth.
“We leveraged on our exceptional competencies in agribusiness and rural economy niche market, which contributed to substantial growth in loans through on-lending schemes to farmers in the last quarter of 2018, all of which buoyed our performance for the year under review”. She explained that the strong performance feat came through composite strategic focus, involving the complete revamp of its service delivery channels, products revamp and profiling, as well as building structured and secured operating environment to protect customers’ businesses.
“In this regard, the bank, not only aggressively pushed out its USSD platform- the newly introduced customer-centric platform for easy banking, but also launched its youth-focused UniFi app – a robust omni-channel app that goes beyond banking services but also offers lifestyle services.“These, along with aggressive transaction push, led to a 290% increase in non-interest income- transactions, cards, mobile, Automated Teller Machines, commissions, fees and foreign exchange,” she added.
