United Bank for Africa Plc, Nigeria’s largest financial services group has been graded as the number one bank in Nigeria by acclaimed financial services rating agency, Agusto & Co. According to the recent Banking Industry Report, released by Agusto & Co, UBA Plc sits atop the banking industry in Nigeria with superior total assets and contingents of N962.6 billion for financial year ended 2006. This figure however does not represent the group balance sheet of UBA which stands at N1.052 trillion.
The report, which classified banks operating in Nigeria into three tiers, depending on asset size, based their selection on the bank’s good asset quality, strong liquidity and ability to generate funding from their wide branch network, good capital adequacy ratio, profitability, cost-to-income ratio as well as strong market and industry position. In the Tier 1 category, according to the Agusto Report, UBA leads the industry with superior asset size, followed by Zenith Bank, First Bank, Union Bank, Oceanic Bank, Intercontinental Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank in that order. Tier 2 consists of Diamond Bank, Access Bank, PlatinumHabib Bank, Afribank, Fidelity Bank and Nigeria International Bank (CITIBANK) while in the third tier are IBTC Chartered Bank, First City Monument Bank, Equatorial Trust Bank, Ecobank, Standard Chartered Bank and Stanbic Bank. The report gave the Nigerian banking industry a pass mark for recorded improvements in some key indicators like asset quality and profitability, but pointed out that South African banks still fared better in terms of management of risk assets.
According to the report; “non-performing loans represents 10 percent of total loans in Nigeria, a decline from the 16 percent of 2005, whereas in South Africa, non-performing loans represents a low 3.4 percent of total loans in 2005. The level of non-performing loans in South Africa has been significantly lower than the level recorded in Nigeria in the last three years. “United Bank for Africa is arguably the fastest growing bank in the country. The bank has grown its branch network from 230 after the banking consolidation in 2005 to over 500 in the first quarter of 2007. Although the bank is said to be implementing a branch roll-out strategy that is geared towards increasing the number of its retail network to 700 by the end of this year, its recent assumption of the private sector deposit liabilities and physical assets of Trade Bank (in liquidation) has made a significant contribution to the huge outlay of its retail outlets.
In line with its ambitious aspiration to become a truly global African bank, delivering value to customers wherever they may be, UBA has taken some bold strides into the African continent, with a subsidiary in Ghana that boasts seven Branches. It also has an office in the Cayman Islands and is the only sub-Saharan African bank (ex-RSA) with a presence in the United States (New York). The Bank’s flagship offering for Nigerians in the Diaspora called Non-Resident Nigerian (NRN) Banking, offers a bouquet of financial products and services for Nigerians via UBA Plc, accessible wherever they may reside.UBA’s goal to be a global brand has engendered a number of world class strategic alliances. In partnership with UBS AG of Switzerland - the world's leading Asset Management firm, the bank is managing a sizeable portion of the Nigeria’s burgeoning external reserves. With MTN, Nigeria’s leading mobile communication company, UBA developed and deployed X-Change, an ATM-compliant card product that integrates the features of the normal ATM card with that of a Virtual Top-Up vending machine. UBA has also established a comprehensive ticketing partnership with Virgin Nigeria, North American Airlines (NAA) and China Southern Airlines.
In the insurance space, UBA’s partnership with Metropolitan Life of South Africa to develop the life insurance market in Nigeria is unique in the development of life assurance in the country. The new company to be called UBA Metropolitan Life promises to introduce new life and investment products into the Nigerian market to bridge current supply gap. Finally, the bank also has a strategic alliance with the United States Mission in Nigeria for the collection of visa fees from Nigerians intending to travel to US including rendering other related retail banking services, among others.
Under the Group umbrella brand, UBA has developed its franchise beyond banking with several diversification initiatives embarked upon in the last year. In line with UBA’s financial services proposition (‘More than just a Bank’), the member companies of the group are also enjoying or vying for leadership in their respective sectors. In an unparalleled move in the history of Nigerian asset management industry, UBA Asset management launched four mutual funds simultaneously in the course of the year, all of which were oversubscribed; UBA Pensions Custodian Ltd became fully operative in 2006 and quickly assumed leadership position, according to the number of PFAs served. Meanwhile, UBA Global Markets leads its industry in debt trading, underwriting and distribution. Many of these growth-enabling diversification initiatives will begin to yield dividend from the current financial year. Financial analysts believe that UBA has laid a solid foundation for future growth and industry leadership in Nigeria and Africa.
