United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc announced that it is intensifying its debt recovery efforts and will resume dividend payments to shareholders this year, despite reporting a 47 percent decline in after-tax profit for the year ended December 31, 2025.
The bank reported an after-tax profit of N404 billion, down from N766 billion in 2024, reflecting a one-off provision of N331 billion for bad loans incurred during the year.
Oliver Alawuba, UBA’s chief executive officer, said in an interview with Arise TV on Monday that the impairment charge was tied to regulatory compliance and does not reflect underlying business weakness.
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“We’re going after these defaulting customers, and there are signs that they are paying back. Once they do, we’ll be in a position to pay dividends for this year,” Alawuba said.
He explained that the suspension of final dividend payments last year followed a directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria requiring banks to exit the forbearance loan window, which pushed the bank’s non-performing loan ratio above the threshold for dividend distribution.
“That dividend didn’t come because the NPL ratio was a bit higher than expected for a dividend payment. However, the good news is that this is a one-off thing,” he said.
Despite the drop in profit, UBA recorded growth in gross earnings to N3.09 trillion, supported by increases in both interest and non-interest income. Interest income rose by 9.84 percent to N2.649 trillion, with investment securities contributing N1.47 trillion, or about 56 percent of total interest income.
Treasury bills generated over N805 billion, up 18 percent, while income from bonds rose by 45 percent to N653 billion. Loans and advances contributed N889 billion, representing about 33 percent of interest income.
The bank’s deposit base grew by 11 percent to N23.949 trillion, accounting for over 71 percent of its balance sheet, while cash and bank balances increased to N185 billion from N146 billion in 2024.
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Alawuba said the UBA’s capital adequacy ratio remained at 23.2 percent, with shareholders’ funds at N4.3 trillion and total deposits rising to N27.2 trillion.
With a loan portfolio of about N7 trillion, he said the bank is positioned to expand lending as economic conditions improve.
“As the economy in Nigeria moderates the recovery, interest rates will come down, which will give us the impetus for loan growth that will further boost profit. The business is strong,” the CEO said.