By Alex C
Unity Bank has recorded a half-year (January-June) Profit After Tax of N7.10 billion ($43.7 million), a 91.51 percent rise from its 2013 Half Year Profit after tax of N3.70 billion ($22.8 million). This spike in profit is partly thanks to the bank’s shrewd management of costs.
Unity Bank’s cost to income ratio fell to 61 percent from 76 percent in the previous Half-Year, with their operating cost dropping by 10.71 percent, now N13.77 billion ($84.8 million) from a previous N15.33 billion ($94.4 million).
Ranked ninth in Nigeria’s banking industry on spread (with 238 branches nationwide), Unity Bank
also reported a gross income of N30.85 billion ($189.9 million) for this six-month period as against N30.17 billion of half-year (HY) 2013, an increase of 2.24 percent year-on-year (YoY). Its earnings per share rose from 10.59k in HY 2013 to 18.49k, an increase of 74.59 percent.
The bank’s aggressive lending policy is also bearing fruits, with its loans to deposits in the period rising to 68.90 percent from 64.37 percent in 2013. Loans and advances have also seen a 4.98 percent rise to N205.48 billion from N195.23 billion, as of full-year (FY) 2013. Customers and other deposits were up slightly by 1.66 percent to N298.22 billion from N303.37 billion as of FY 2013.
A merger of nine financial institutions (in 2006), Unity Bank recently opened application list for a rights issue of 38.447 billion ($236.9 million) ordinary shares which will start the first part of a two-part new capital issue that is expected to inject more than N39 billion ($240.1 million) into the bank.
Net proceeds of this new capital issues, the bank revealed, would be used for new branch development, upgrade of information and communication technology, human resource development, working capital and products and channel upgrade, among others.