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Pix of
54th AGM – 13: Director, UBA Plc, Mrs. Onari Duke; Group Managing Director, UBA
Plc Mr. Phillips Oduoza; Director, UBA Plc, Mrs Rose Okwechime; Chairman,
United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu; Director, Mrs Foluke Abdulrasaq,
and Group Managing Director Designate, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka at the 54th
Annual General Meeting of the Bank held in Lagos on Friday |
On
Friday April 8, during the bank’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held
at the Eko Atlantic Hotel, Lagos, the shareholders of UBA applauded the UBA for
its strong financial performance in 2015 despite the difficult operating
environment globally.
They
also approved the board’s recommendation to pay a final dividend of 40 kobo per
share. UBA had earlier paid an interim dividend of 20 kobo in September 2015
bringing the total dividend paid in respect of its 2015 financial year to 60
kobo per share.
Speaking
on behalf of shareholders, Sir Sunny Nwosu, President Independent Shareholders
Association of Nigeria (ISAN) expressed his appreciation to the bank’s board
and management for growing profit and increasing dividend payment at a time
when many other banks recorded lower profit and had to cut dividends. He said;
“this dividend payment reinforces the resilience of the Bank amidst challenging
operating environment and it also shows the quality of the bank’s management”.
Earlier,
Tony Elumelu, Chairman, UBA Plc, told shareholders that UBA’s strong
performance in 2015 reflects efficiency gains, prudence and best practice in
risk management.
“We
recorded N315 billion in gross earnings, a 10% growth when compared to 2014
earnings. This was achieved in spite of relatively weak liquidity in the
Nigerian foreign exchange market, which reduced foreign currency related
business and income lines. Our Bank offset the macroeconomic challenges with
improved customer service and balance sheet efficiency” Elumelu said.
Elumelu
further told shareholders that the bank successfully managed its costs
throughout the year, “thus preserving earnings to deliver a profit before tax
of N68.5 billion, which translates to 22% growth over our performance in 2014”.
Looking
into the future, Elumelu warned that developments in financial technology is
changing the game in the financial industry, lowering operating costs and broad
customer reach and becoming major disruptors within the banking industry.
However, he gave the assurance that UBA is a part of the leading technology
change agents, and thus well positioned to benefit from the brave new world
offered by advancements in technology. He stressed that leading new technology
and innovation is a part of the UBA Group’s DNA.
Also
speaking at the AGM, Phillips Oduoza, Group Managing Director and CEO, UBA Plc,
explained that management rigorously identified and eliminated fats in the
system, improved on contract negotiations, eliminated overlapping functions and
structures and continued to leverage technology in its operations, particularly
in servicing its over 8 million customers through low cost service channels,
which ensured it delivered improved performance to shareholders.
On
the bank’s operations in Africa, Kennedy Uzoka the group DMD assured
shareholders that UBAs African subsidiaries are growing stronger and the group
has a target to increase Africa’s contribution to the Group’s profit to over
25% in 2016 from 24% in 2015, without undermining the positive outlook on
Nigeria, where he expects to see positive growth from imminent implementation
of the 2016 budget.
Uzoka
said that UBA market share is increasing in most of its target markets, as it
grows loans and deposits in double digits across most of its operations in
Africa.
Shareholders were also informed of the recently announced
GMD/CEO-designate, Kennedy Uzoka.
Meanwhile,
the bank, during the week held a Board Learning Session at The UBA house
in Lagos, where all the subsidiary board chairs and CEOs were invited by the
group chairman Mr Tony O. Elumelu, to participate in the sessions. Members of
the group Board together with the CEOs and Chairpersons of their 18 African
subsidiaries converged to discuss ways to best serve customers, as well as the
many landmark projects the bank has partnered in, such as the recently
concluded financing of student housing at Senegal’s Cheikh Anta Diop
University.
On
Saturday April 9, the four day week long activity, culminated with the UBA CEO
Awards Ceremony that was an opportunity to celebrate in grand style with the
live streaming of the event on REDTV, the new lifestyle online channel taking
the entertainment industry by storm and proudly sponsored by UBA.
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