Following a sterling performance in 2016 financial year, United Bank for Africa Group (UBA) Group has announced that it has once again began the year with another impressive performance of 41% percent year-on-year growth in profit-before-tax in the first three months of 2017.

According to the bank, leveraging on strong growth in interest and non-interest income as well as increased efficiency, UBA recorded N25.5 billion in profit before tax in the first quarter, ending March 31st 2017, compared to N18.1 billion achieved in the first quarter of 2016.

The Group also said it recorded a profit after tax of N22.4 billion in the first quarter, an impressive 32 percent year-on-year growth compared to N17.0 billion achieved in the corresponding period of 2016. The group sustained its strong profitability recording an annualized 19.4% Return on Average equity (RoAE).

Driven by an unprecedented 43% year-on-year growth in interest income, UBA Group recorded a 38% percent year-on-year growth in gross earnings to close at N101.2 billion for the three months period ending March 2017, compared to N73.7 billion recorded in the first three months of the year 2016.

The group managing director/CEO of the United Bank for Africa Group(UBA), Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, expressed satisfaction with the Bank’s impressive performance in the first quarter of 2017, despite intensifying competition and a very challenging business environment.

“Our performance in the first quarter of the year strengthens our optimism on economic and business recovery in Nigeria and many of our markets across Africa. More importantly, this result is evidence of efficiency gains in our pricing, balance sheet management and operations,” Uzoka said.

“Driven by our balance sheet liquidity, we grew interest income by 43% to an unprecedented quarterly run-rate of N77 billion