United Capital Plc has reported gross earnings of N5.344 billion for the first quarter financial result ended March 31, 2023.
The amount represents an increase of 26.87 per cent compared with N4.212 billion recorded in the corresponding period of last year.
The company’s three month result submitted at the Nigerian Exchange showed that fee and commission income rose by N76 million or 4.35 per cent to N1.823 billion from N1.747 billion recorded the preceding.
Analysis of the company’s results showed that profit before tax increased by 4.83 per cent to N2.817 billion against N2.687 billion achieved in the corresponding period of 2022.
The company paid tax of N375.879 million within the period under review compared with N379.204 million it paid in the same period of 2022, bringing profit after tax to N2.441 billion from N2.308 billion.
The company expenses rose by N1.019 billion or 61.98 per cent to N2.663 billion from N1.644 billion reported in the comparative period of 2022. the company for its financial year ended December 31, 2022 recorded impressive margins, with its gross earnings growing by 49 per cent year-on-year to N26.90 billion, PBT rising by 13 per cent year- on-year to N13.50 billion, Total assets growing by 33 per cent year-on-year to N601.92 billion while Shareholders’ Funds increased by 8 per cent year-on-year to N32.99 billion.
The company has proposed to maintain a dividend of N1.50 for every 50 kobo ordinary share held by investors.
Commenting on the Group’s performance, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Peter Ashade, had this to say: “We navigated a tough terrain to sustain our earnings growth and deliver decent returns to shareholders while strengthening our organisational resilience to factors militating against business growth especially in emerging economies during the year 2022.
“Our operating environment, despite the undulating landscape, continues to present windows of opportunities for all our businesses in the locations we operate. This is accentuated by the 49 per cent growth in revenue to N26.90billion which helped offset increased operating expenses resulting from very high inflation and severely impacted macroeconomic environment which we anticipated in fourth quarter 2022. We remain upbeat about sustaining our performance in 2023 having kicked off the year in a robust financial position with close to N1 trillion funds under management comprising trusts, mutual funds, and other professionally managed investments for our clients across diverse segments. The Group is better positioned to deliver on our growth objectives while remaining competitive and sustainably profitable. We will continue to prioritise activities that create and preserve value for all our stakeholders into the foreseeable future”