Staff commitment and customer strength among others have combined to give United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, a major turnaround in the just-ended fiscal year.  Coming  from a bad patch last fiscal year, the bank seemed to have evoked its core values of humility, empathy, integrity and resilience to grow its profit figures by over 905 per cent to close at N56 billion for the year 2012 from the N7 billion loss it recorded in the previous year on account of loan provisioning that it did to up its balance sheet.

Details of the results show improvement in all indices in a performance that had seen the complete turnaround of the pan-African financial services institution.

“We achieved those results despite a tough operating environment, demonstrating the strength and resilience of our business model. UBA had a strong year in 2012. Our success was again driven by the strength of our customer-focused, Corporate and Treasury driven business model. We are confident about our ability to deliver sustainable earnings growth in the future. We will continue to strategically invest in our businesses, manage our expenses and contain cost, whilst continually seeking ways to exceed expectations  of our stakeholders”, said its Group Managing Director, Mr.Phillips Oduoza.

Profit before tax rose over 295 per cent to N52.00billion in 2012, compared with a loss of N26.60billion in the previous year, whilst Total Comprehensive Income attributable to equity holders grew outstandingly by 5,058 per cent to N55.53billion, compared with a loss of N1.12billion in 2011.

Gross Earnings in 2012 for UBA grew significantly by 34.45 per cent increase in gross earnings to peak at N220.1bn; representing approximately N56.40billion additional revenue from the N163.7bn achieved in the preceding year whilst the bank was able to keep total operating expense lower by 3.30 per cent in the same period under review.

Oduoza, commended staff for the turnaround performance. “As always, our employees and their dedication to our customers and clients remains the driving force behind our success and I thank them for their tremendous contributions. The bank had a good performance for full year 2012, putting us in a position to commence the journey back to industry leadership and setting the stage for the attainment of our long term strategic intent of being a leading Bank on the African continent” he stated

Also commenting on the results, the Group Chief Finance Officer Mr. Ugochukwu Nwaghodoh said the bank had continued to focus on customer service delivery, efficient capital management and returns maximization with return on equity exceeding 30 per cent in 2012, one of the highest in the industry.

“Our ability to serve clients globally with solutions tailored to their needs gives us a strong advantage in today’s rapidly changing and highly competitive market place. Adopting a unique business platform across Africa, as a group, has also ensured that we present a single face to our customers and clients around Africa . This does not only help foster collaboration throughout the Group, it also strengthens our ability to deliver value adding and innovative solutions to our customers and clients through our integrated model,” Nwaghodoh further stated.

With operations in 19 African countries and presence in New York , London and Paris , UBA provides banking services to over seven million customers through expansive retail distribution outlets. Its ability to deliver tailored financial solutions based on high-value customized products and services sets it apart from peers.