*As lower tax charge lifts profit by 2.3% to N537.53b
WorldStage– United Bank for Africa (UBA) has released its unaudited nine month 2025 (9M-25) financials with profit before tax (PBT) dipping by 4.1% y/y to NGN578.60 billion, but a substantially lower tax charge (-47.5% y/y) lifted profit after tax (PAT) to NGN537.53 billion, up 2.3% y/y.
With 9M-25 results, UBA reaffirmed its resilient core banking performance amid a high-yield environment as the sharp drop in impairment charges and sustained investment income offset pressures from elevated funding costs and weaker FX income.
It reported a 10.5% y/y decline in earnings per share (EPS) to NGN13.56from NGN15.15 in 9M-24. This decline partly stemmed from the issuance of additional outstanding shares by the bank.
Interest income grew 10.1% by y/y to NGN1.98 trillion, underpinned by higher earnings from investment securities (+30.4% y/y) and loans to banks (+10.2% y/y), which outweighed declines in cash balances (-24.0% y/y) and customer loans (-2.8% y/y).
Interest expense, however, rose by 16.3% y/y to NGN808.72 billion, primarily due to higher costs on customer deposits (+13.4%) and institutional funding (+29.4%). Despite funding cost pressures, net interest income ex-LLE grew by 13.8% y/y to NGN1.11 trillion, supported by a significant 53.9% decline in credit impairment charges to NGN56.89 billion.
Non-interest income declined 28.9% by y/y to NGN310.08 billion, weighed by the sharp normalisation of FX-related gains as FX revaluation and trading income fell by 83.3% and 37.6% y/y, respectively. Nonetheless, investment securities gains surged by 230.6% y/y to NGN106.45 billion, providing some offset, while fee and commission income remained stable (+0.4% y/y).
Operating expenses rose by 4.2% y/y to NGN846.15 billion, driven by higher personnel costs (+20.1% y/y), AMCON levy (+32.1%), and depreciation (+34.5%), occupancy (-32.1% y/y), contract (-20.3% y/y) and communication (-45.5% y/y) costs. However, the cost-to-income ratio (ex-LLE) weakened to 57.1% (9M-24: 52.8%).
