The shareholders of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc have approved the payment of N27.2 billion for its financial year ended December 31, 2016. The bank distributed N19.9 billion as final dividend, in addition to N7.3 billion interim dividend paid after the audit of its 2016 half year results, making a total of N27.2 billion for 2016.

UBA had earlier paid an interim dividend of 20 kobo and a final 55 kobo per share to shareholders, bringing the total dividend for the 2016 financial year to 75 kobo, 25 per cent growth over the total dividend of 60 kobo per share paid for the 2015 financial year.

The president of the Association for the Advancement of the Rights of Nigerian Shareholders, Alhaji Farouk Umar, said at the AGM, “It is obvious from the faces of shareholders that all of us are happy with the performance of the bank. We did not expect anything less because we know that that our chairman is an achiever not only locally but also internationally. We have seen the African expansion and its contribution to our earnings and I believe this is also commendable.”

The group chairman, UBA, Mr. Tony Elumelu, gave credit to the chairpersons of UBA subsidiary Boards across Africa saying ‘These hard working men and women, who chair the Boards across our businesses in Africa, have helped contribute a third of the overall profit of the Group. I believe they deserve commendation. They are strengthening UBA brand across Africa, in line with our aspiration.”

“Our results show the tenacity and enterprise of our management team and Staff. More importantly is our ability to proactively meet customers’ need. I am pleased that UBA maintains some of the best prudential ratios in the industry, as our capital adequacy ratio of 20 per cent and 39 per cent liquidity ratio are well above the 15 per cent and 30 per cent regulatory requirement respectively. We will be prudent in lending to critical growth sectors of the African economies, as we remain upbeat on the huge banking opportunities in Africa,” he added.

The group CEO, Kennedy Uzoka assured the shareholders of a better 2017, saying “We are approaching 2017 with stronger optimism, especially as the outlook remains positive in most of our markets.

He stated that the bank has thoroughly reviewed the possible outcomes of 2017 and taken strategic steps to position and capture the inherent opportunities in the domestic and international scenes. He pointed out that the bank two-pronged approach of earnings and cost optimisation will enhance its profitability in the years ahead.