United Bank for Africa announced on Wednesday that its loan portfolio grew by N605 billion during the 2022 financial period. The disclosure was made during the audited 2022 results conference call (Strategic Review and Outlook), which was led by Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Oliver Alawuba. Alawuba told investors that the expansion of UBA’s loan portfolio aligns with the bank’s broader objective of stimulating growth in the real sector. “We grew our loan portfolio by N605 billion, or 21.4 percent, from the prior year,” he said. “We continue to maintain a close focus on cost efficiency and strictly control operating expenses across the Group, including our new strategic investments. Consequently, our reported cost‑to‑income ratio stood at 59.1 percent.”
Regarding capital adequacy, UBA reported a Capital Adequacy Ratio of 28.3 percent, well above the regulatory minimum of 15 percent. The bank emphasized its commitment to improving performance in the coming years, noting that these achievements were realized despite volatile market conditions and numerous operational challenges during the financial year.
Looking ahead to the current financial year, Alawuba said the bank will drive revenue growth across its business segments while maintaining a strong customer focus. “Our primary business strategy is to continue to focus on the customer—the ‘undisputed employer’—while leveraging the key pillars of our customer‑first philosophy: people, process, and technology, to deliver positive experiences across all touchpoints, both physical and virtual,” he explained. He added that a dedicated workforce is critical and that UBA will strive to simplify and streamline processes, ensure system stability, and maintain a reliable IT architecture to support operations.
Despite global headwinds across all markets, Alawuba affirmed the bank’s resolve to do more this year by increasing revenues across major business segments and pursuing relentless efficiency throughout the group.
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