Sierra Leone Business: UBA posts Le25Billion Profit Before Tax

The United Bank of Africa (UBA) has posted a Le25.3 billion Profit Before Tax for 2016. This shows a 22% jump in profits over the 2015 financial year. The 2016 figures of Le25,318,956,000 (Le25.3billion) jumped by Le6billion (Le5,549,750,000) from Le20billion (Le19,769,206,000) in 2015.
The Customer Deposits grew by 12% (Le29,750,073,000) from Le219 billion (Le218,932,605,000) in 2015 to Le249 billion (Le248,682,678,000) in 2016.
The Bank’s Loan Portfolio grew by 29% of Le14billion (Le13,960,772,000) from Le29 billion (Le29,012,611,000) in 2015 to Le48 Billion (Le47,973,383,000) in 2016.
The Fees and Commission the Bank generated from the loans dropped by 26% or Le3.8billion from Le14.8 billion (Le14,826,215,000) in 2015 to Le10.9 billion (Le10,988,092,000) in 2016.
However the bad debts in its books grew up to a chilling 92% or Le168 million (Le167,796,000) from Le15 million (Le15,210,000) in 2015 to Le183 million (Le183,006,000) in 2016.
Given the above it is not surprising that the Bank increased its investment in government securities (Treasury bills) by 4% or an additional Le5.9 billion (Le5,914,269,000) from Le138.9billion (Le138,973,856,000) in 2015 to Le144.8billion (Le144,888,125,000) in 2016.
It is important to note that its Le144.8billion ‘safe’ investment in government securities dwarfs it Le48billion loan portfolio by a hefty Le96.9billion (Le 96,914,742,000) given that one of the core functions of commercial banks is giving out loans
This ‘safe’ investment in government securities obviously contributes a lot to the Bank’s profits since the returns are high.
Monday May 22, 2017.