21st February, 2012
The United Bank for Africa (UBA) on Monday said it sold N100 billion non-performing loans to the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in 2011.
Mr. Phillips Oduoza, UBA Group Managing Director, said this at the “Facts Behinde the Figures” of the company held at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos.
Oduoza said that UBA used the AMCON vehicle to reposition its balance sheet for future growth by writing off the bad debts incurred in the course of its business.
According to him, the bank will declare a loss for the financial year ended December 31, 2011 due to the loan write off.
He promised that dividend payments to the shareholders would be robust from the 2012 financial year.
The group managing director said that the bank’s planned fresh equity offering on the NSE had been suspended due to instability in the capital market.
Oduoza said that the bank was projecting a profit after tax of N12.1 billion in the first quarter of this year.
He also said that the bank’s gross earnings during the period would be in the region of N59 billion.
Oduoza said that the bank embarked on aggressive investment drive in African markets to ensure actaulisation of the forecast.
He said that the bank would improve on its customers’ service delivery and introduce new products in 2012.
The managing director said that the bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) stood at 18 per cent and its loan-deposit ratio was 48 per cent.