Union Bank of Nigeria Plc on Wednesday announced a profit before tax of N11.7 billion for the first half of 2018, up from the N9.5 billion reported in the same period last year.

The bank, in its unaudited financial statements for the period ended June 30, 2018, said gross earnings increased by 16 per cent from N72.1 billion recorded in the first half of 2017 to N83.3 billion in H1 2018, largely boosted by the 10 percent surge in interest income and 37 per cent rise in non-interest income.

Interest income rose from N56.6 billion filed in the first half of 2017 to N62.2 billion in H1 2018, while net interest income before impairment grew by 14 percent to N34.4 billion, again boosted by 8.2 percent improvement in the net interest margins that rose 7.9 percent in the same period of 2017.

According to the lender, its non-interest income rose by 37 percent from N15.4 billion in H1 2017 to N21.1 billion in H1 2018, due to the enhanced treasury trading income, recoveries and 311 percent growth in alternate channel revenues.

However, operating costs rose in the period by 21 percent to N39.2 billion, up from N32.4 billion recorded in the same period in 2017. The bank attributed this to a 25 percent increase in regulatory levies from the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria as well as some one-off items.

Customer deposits grew by 3 percent from N802.4 billion as at December 2017 to N826.7 billion in the first half of 2018, with foreign currency deposits rising by 66 percent.

The bank gross loans stood at N508.5 billion in the first half of the year, down from the N560.7 billion recorded in December 2017, largely due to successful recovery efforts and the write-off of some fully provisioned non-performing loans.

Speaking on the results, Mr. Emeka Emuwa, the Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank, said: “In the first half of the year, we have continued to see positive results from our efficiency and productivity drive. Across all our business lines, we witnessed strong underlying performance, translating into improved earnings."

"In the second half of the year, the group would continue to focus on productivity, leveraging enhanced platform to deliver best-in-class services to its customers and taking advantage of targeted opportunities across business lines and geographies," he added.

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