Global rating and research agency, Fitch Ratings, has affirmed an A+ long term rating for United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc and endorsed the bank as Nigeria’s largest by asset portfolio. Fitch considers quantitative aspects of a company such as balance sheet, profitability and risk management frameworks; and qualitative factors, such as strategy, quality of management, array of products, the environment in which it operates, and future development of its business vision.
The A+ rating for UBA was published on Friday, April 13 2007, and this rating comes as timely news as the Bank revs up its march towards becoming Africa’s leading Financial Services Institution. Fitch’s A+ rating for UBA is an impressive score against the backdrop of a complex merger. Fitch declared in a statement "the rating reflects UBA’s enhanced retail and wholesale banking franchise following the merger with Standard Trust Bank (STB) and the bank’s consistent earnings track record." Fitch also added that UBA’s improved net earnings for the year ended September 30, 2006 was attributable to "significant increases in net interest and non-interest income on the back of an annualised 168 per cent growth in the bank’s balance sheet".
Last week, UBA released half-year results showing a record N11.76b profit for period ended March 31 2007. This was a 108% increase compared to N5.648billion in the previous year. It further consolidated its leadership position in the banking industry with over 120 per cent growth in Profit-After-Tax (PAT). These results came a couple of weeks after the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, invested over USD50 million in UBA in a deal that signals IFC’s strategic partnership with select Nigerian financial institutions.
Fitch’s assessment of UBA as Nigeria’s largest bank corroborates the analysis of Nigeria’s foremost rating and research agency, Agusto & Co., whose review of the banking industry and ranking of its top players, in February 2007, reached the same conclusion. The glowing scorecards from these reputable independent agencies, at home and abroad, provide significant leverage to UBA’s determination to compete much more strongly in the international arena.
In addition to the Fitch rating and the Agusto & Co ranking, UBA has recently received various accolades in recognition of the bank’s robust retail distribution network, high growth rate and unparalleled business strategy. Vanguard Newspapers named UBA Bank of the Year at Thisday Awards for Excellence in February 2007 and Best Branch Network within the same month.
UBA’s number one position in Nigeria and West Africa is by virtue of its robust asset base, which is in excess of N1trillion, (the first ever and only bank in Nigeria to attain this feat), a deposit base of N776 billion, a retail network of 560 branches and as many as 6 million customers, among other parameters. The bank has earned the appellation of ‘Financial Solutions Powerhouse’ by virtue of its full range financial services portfolio under the umbrella UBA brand. With a well-established bank in Ghana (with seven branches) that blazed the trail for Nigerian banks, an office in the Cayman Islands and being the only sub-Saharan African bank with a regulatory presence in the United States (Rockefeller Plaza, New York), UBA is making unparalleled strides towards its aspiration to be a truly global African mega bank, delivering innovative products and services to customers wherever they may be.
The Group Managing Director and CEO of UBA, Mr. Tony Elumelu, was delighted with this latest accolade from the acclaimed agency, asserting that, "the A+ Fitch rating recognises the long-term sustainability of UBA and authenticates our confidence in our capability to achieve our high ambitions and continually grow value for all our stakeholders."
UBA Group
