Union Bank of Nigeria has posted profit after tax of N2.404 billion at the end of first quarter ended March 31, 2015. The result showed a drop of N2.551 billion or 51.48 per cent compared with N4.955 billion achieved in the preceding period of 2014. The bank’s revenue grew from N26.888 billion to N27.283 billion.
Meanwhile, the bank at the end of 2014 financial year recorded a significant growth as it posted profit after tax of N26.825 billion, representing an increase of N22.98 billion compared with N3.836 billion reported in the comparative period of 2013. Also the profit before tax went up by N23.93 billion from N3.769 billion recorded in the corresponding period to N27.708 billion within the period under review.
The bank’s gross earnings grew from N121.398 billion to N135.897 billion as at December 31, 2014. The interest income on the other hand slump from N80.869 billion in the preceding year to N76.192 billion while net interest income went down to N51.875 billion from N57.293 billion made the preceding year.
A breakdown of the bank’s result showed that the operating income surged from N67.596 billion reported in the previous year to N90.524 billion while total assets increased from N1.002 trillion to N1.009 trillion. Total liabilities fell from N803.413 billion to N786.923 billion within the period under review.
The bank’s total comprehensive income rose from N16.530 billion to N26.207 billion, representing a surge of N9.677 billion or 58 per cent.
Commenting on the result the managing director/chief executive officer, Mr Emeka Emuwa said 2014 was focused on implementing the foundational pillars of our transformation strategy with a vision to rebuild Union Bank into a highly respected provider of financial services in Nigeria.
We optimized our talent base, making significant hires into key roles and ensuring we have the right people in the right functions and aligned our staff compensation and overall costs to be Competitive within the industry. We also over hauled operations and processes in order to consistently deliver quality services to our customers and established a Central Processing Centre to provide streamlined, cost efficient and consistent processing of branch operations.
Notwithstanding the significant investments in these initiatives, we stabilised our cost line and kept expenses flat. The bank also recorded significant growth in the net operating income and disposal of five of our non-banking subsidiaries in compliance with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) regulations requirement, added a substantial boost to our bottom line in 2014.