Kayode Ekundayo
13 November 2008
Lagos — Union Bank of Nigeria PLC has declared a gross earnings of N113 billion from N89.24 billion achieved in 2007, representing an increase of about 28 per cent, while pre-tax profit also grew by 88 per cent from N17.58 billion to N33.01 billion.
The bank in its financial results for the year ended March 31, 2008, recorded growth in pre-tax profit from N15.32 billion in 2007 to N29.75 billion in 2008, while gross earnings increased from N71.09 billion to N92.94 billion. Post-tax profit rose from N12.13 billion to N24.74 billion for the Bank, while that of the Group peaked at N26.86 billion from N13.88 billion recorded in 2007.
Similarly, total assets increased from N619.80 billion in 2007 to N907.07 billion for the Bank, and from N700.09 billion to N1, 128.90 billion for the Group.
A cursory look at the report also shows that deposit liabilities for the bank rose from N417.41 billion in 2007 to N649.33 billion in 2008, while that of the group hit N686.31 billion from N432.08 billion. Shareholders' funds for the Bank and Group increased to N111.3 billion and N119.2 billion, respectively, from N96.63 billion and N102.71 billion, respectively that they were last year.
As a result of the performance, the bank will, subject to shareholders' ratification, give a bonus issue of one new share for every six shares currently held and pay a dividend of N1.00 per share, in demonstration of its resilient capacity to meet and surpass shareholders' expectations on returns on investment.
The register of members would be closed for the purpose of the dividend and bonus issue between Monday, November 17 and Friday, 21, while the warrants would be distributed from Wednesday, December 3, 2008.
Meanwhile, the shareholders of the bank will, on November 26, , converged on Giginya Hotel, Sokoto State for the annual general meeting to ratify the recommendations of the board of directors and transact other business.
The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive, Barth Ebong, last year informed shareholders that management had identified some growth variables and strategies with which to expand the growth of the bank.
One of the strategies, he said must ensure that customer service is paramount.
"You have to ensure your capacity in staff is properly trained to be able to deliver the service and also, put infrastructure in place to drive the efficient service". He assured that by the time he would leave office, he wished to be remembered as a Chief Executive who met a bank that was good and left a bank that had become great", he said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
