• Total Assets up by 37.2% to N28.3 trillion

• Customer Deposits hits N23.2 trillion, climbs 34%

• Makes Profit Before Tax of N401.6bn

Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has released its audited financial results for the half year ended June 30, 2024, showing impressive performance across some key financial indicators.

The audited financials released to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Monday, showed that the bank recorded double-digit growth in its gross earnings and operating incomes.

At the end of the first two quarters of the year, and despite the tough global macroeconomic climate in Nigeria as well as the geo-political environment challenges across major countries in Africa where the bank has subsidiaries, UBA recorded a 39.6 per cent increase in its gross earnings, which rose from N981.77 billion in 2023 to N1.371 trillion in June 2024.

Interest income also increased by 134.3 per cent to N1.003 trillion up from N428.2 billion recorded in June last year, while total assets went up by 37.2 per cent from N20.6 trillion in December 2023 to close at N28.3 trillion. Customer deposits, also leapt by 33.7 per cent in the same period to close at N23.2 trillion up from N17.3 trillion recorded at the end of 2023.

The results filed showed that profit before tax(PBT) which stood at N403 billion in June 2023, closed the half year at N402 billion, while profit after tax(PAT)dropped slightly from N378 billion to N316 billion in the year under consideration. However, the banks’ shareholders funds increased by 47 per cent from N2.03 trillion in December 2023, to N2.99 trillion.

In line with the bank’s culture of paying both interim and final cash dividend, the Board of Directors of UBA Plc has declared an interim dividend of N2.00 per share for every ordinary share of N0.50 each held by its shareholders, representing 300% increase compared to the N0.50 declared in the similar period of 2023.

UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Oliver Alawuba, while commenting on the results underscored the bank’s commitment to consistently deliver value to its shareholders.

He said, “UBA Group has continued to deliver strong double-digit growth in high quality and sustainable banking revenue streams, driven by a focused growth in balance sheet, transaction and digital banking businesses across geographies in line with our strategic goals.”

Continuing, the GMD said, “The Group’s performance has been buoyed by consistent strong growth in all core and sustainable banking income lines. Our intermediation business showed strong growth with net interest income expanding by 143% YoY to N675billion”.

On the plans for the rest of the year, Alawuba said, “As the Group intensifies its customer acquisition drive, we are making significant investments in technology, data analytics, product research and innovation to enhance our value proposition and customer experience.”

The Executive Director Finance & Risk, Ugo Nwaghodoh, expressed delight at the milestone achieved by the bank in driving operational efficiency, as reflected in cost-to-income ratio normalizing around the 50% range.

“Our cost optimization provides scope for further moderation, as we explore options towards a drastic reduction of our foreign currency denominated cost components, robotizing and automation of processes and application of artificial intelligence to our operations,” he stated.

He disclosed that the Group will focus on effectively managing the heightened credit, operational, cyber and information security risks, as it continues to conduct its business within the tenets of our moderate risk appetite in alignment with our sustainability goals.

“The Group has made significant progress and is on course to shore up its share capital to support its medium to long term aspirations, whilst aligning with the recent regulatory requirement in Nigeria and other jurisdictions. that we operate in,” Nwaghodoh further explained.

United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than thirty-five million customers, across 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries.

With presence in New York, London, Paris and Dubai, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail, commercial and corporate banking, innovative cross-border payments and remittances, trade finance and ancillary banking services.

With fraud cases within the banking system rising by 9,004 per cent, which led to a loss of about N42.6 billion in the second quarter of 2024, 49 appointments have been terminated within the industry.

According to the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) Q2 2024 Fraud and Forgeries report released at the weekend, losses from fraud rose from N468.4 million (Q1) to N42.6 billion, a staggering percentage increase of 9004.82 per cent.

FITC explained that while 11,472 cases were recorded in Q1 2024, the figure rose to 11.532 three months after (0.52 per cent). The total amount involved in the fraud rose to N56.3 billion from N2.988 billion (1,784.6 per cent). It put the total amount lost from April to June at N42.6 billion from N468.4 million, which showed a percentage change of 9,004.82 per cent within the period under review.

In the frauds, FITC revealed that outsider involvement rose from 10,397 in Q1 to 10,938 in Q2 (5.20 per cent), while insider (staff) involvement also went up from 47 to 58 (23.4 per cent). This led to the termination of people found culpable, where 49 persons as against 35 in Q1 lost their appointments.

Further analysis of the report showed that “miscellaneous and other fraud” types constituted the largest loss, representing 96.46 per cent of the total amount lost,] with a value of N41.14 billion.

This was followed by losses from fraudulent withdrawals and computer/web fraud, amounting to approximately N781.2 million and N400.7 million, respectively.

FITC explained that Q2 2024, fraudulent activities were carried out through various channels, including Automated Teller machines (ATMs), online platforms like web and mobile banking, bank branches and Point of Sale (POS) terminals.

Among instruments used, card fraud recorded a significant decrease, declining by 47.66 per cent from 21,469 in Q1 to 11,237 in Q2.

In contrast, fraudulent activity involving cheques and cash increased by 36.67 per cent and 9.09 per cent, respectively, with cheques surging from 30 cases in Q1 to 41 cases in Q2, while the use of cash rose from 209 in Q1 2024 to 228 in Q2.

A further analysis of the data showed a significant rise in the amount lost across all channels, except for mobile fraud, which recorded a decline.

Losses through bank branch-related channels rose by 31,497 per cent, to a value of N42.2 billion in Q2 from N133.9 million in Q1 2024. Computer/web frauds also saw a monumental increase of 1,560 per cent, with losses growing from N24 million to N400.8 million.

However, there was no indication of the amount lost to ATM-related fraud. As initially mentioned, mobile fraud recorded a decline in the amount lost from the previous quarter, decreasing by 59 per cent from N216.4 million in Q1 to N88.7 million in Q2 2024.

With the sudden surge in losses to fraud, the FITC advised the banks to enhance their monitoring and auditing procedures. It said deposit money institutions could utilise Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools that flag unusual entries or patterns to implement continuous and automated monitoring systems that could detect anomalies or discrepancies in settlement files.

It added that regular unannounced internal audits focusing specifically on settlement processes could be conducted to identify and address any irregularities promptly.

“Access controls should also be strengthened by limiting access to settlement files to only a small, vetted group of authorised personnel given the appropriate clearance and regularly trained on the latest security protocols.

“The implementation of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Role-Based Access Controls (RBAC) can aid the reduction of the risk of unauthorised changes to settlement files,” FITC stated.

The firm disclosed that In the period under review, it received 80 returns on fraud and forgery cases from 28 Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).

According to FITC, a closer look revealed that 26 reports were submitted in April, while 27 reports were received in May and June. (The Guardian)