Prime Business Africa
In the first nine months (9m) of 2025, United Bank for Africa (UBA) grew its gross earnings by 2.95 percent to N2.46 trillion, surpassing the N2.39 billion generated in the same period in 2024.
According to the company’s interim unaudited consolidated financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2025, UBA also notched up a 10.08 percent year-on-year growth in interest income, which grew from N1.79 trillion to N1.98 trillion.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelInterest expense, however, outpaced interest income, as the former increased by 16.26 percent to N808.71 billion between January and September 2024, exceeding the N695.57 billion posted during the period in the previous year.
Consequently, UBA closed the nine-month period with N1.17 trillion, up by 6.18 percent, when compared to the N1.10 trillion recorded in the corresponding period last year.
Also, the company reported a 0.42 percent growth in net fee and commission income, which grew by N234.84 billion between the first quarter (Q1) and third quarter (Q3) of this year, compared to the N233.85 billion generated in the same period the year before.
The financial report showed that UBA’s earnings were impacted by a 77.33 percent year-on-year decline in net trading and foreign exchange (FX) income, as it decreased to N41.35 billion, from N182.48 billion.
Also, the lender’s total non-interest income dropped to N310.07 billion during the period under review, from N435.84 billion reached the previous year, indicating a 28.85 percent decrease.
UBA added that operating income also decreased by 3.73 percent year-on-year, from N1.53 trillion to N1.48 trillion, while total operating expenses increased by 4.17 percent, from N812.20 billion to N846.14 billion.
As a result, UBA suffered a 4.12 percent decline in profit before income tax, which nosedived from N603.48 billion reached between Q1 and Q3 2025 to N578.59 billion within the same period in 2024.
This led to the company paying N41.07 billion in income tax between January and September of this year, lower than the N78.17 billion tax expense incurred last year.
The 47.46 percent decline in UBA’s tax expense enabled the company to squeeze out a 2.32 percent year-on-year growth in profit after tax, which rose from N525.31 billion to N537.52 billion.
