E-Financial
UBA Group Starts Strong in 2018, Grows Profits to N26.6Bn in Q1
United Bank for Africa Group (UBA, Pan African financial institution, has released its unaudited first quarter results, showing significant growth across major income lines.
Following a sterling performance in the 2017 financial year, UBA Group delivered another impressive 18% percent year-on-year growth in gross earnings in the first three months of 2018.
Leveraging on strong growth in both interest and non-interest income, UBA grew top-line to N119.4 billion in the first three months of the year, ending March 31st 2018 and the Group recorded N26.6 billion in profit before tax, compared to N25.5 billion achieved in the first quarter of 2017.
The Group also recorded a profit after tax of N23.7 billion in the first quarter, an impressive 6.2 percent year-on-year growth compared to N22.4 billion achieved in the corresponding period of 2017. The group sustained its strong profitability recording an annualized 18% Return on Average Equity (RoAE).
Driven by an 18% year-on-year growth in interest income, UBA Group recorded an 18% percent year-on-year growth in gross earnings to close at N119.4 billion for the three months period ending March 2018, compared to N101.2 billion recorded in the first three months of the year 2017.
Kennedy Uzoka
Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, Group Managing Director/CEO of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, expressed satisfaction with the Bank’s impressive performance in the first quarter of 2018, despite intensifying competition and moderation in yield environment in Nigeria and Ghana.
“This set of first quarter result is a good start to the year and a reflection of our capacity to sustainably grow earnings over the medium to long term. We recorded 18% growth in gross earnings, as both interest and non-interest income grew 18% and 19% respectively. Notwithstanding the moderation in sovereign yield in Nigeria and Ghana, we achieved a 60bps improvement in net interest margin (NIM) to 7.6%, as we extract efficiency gains from balance sheet management,” Uzoka said.
“I am particularly pleased with the 8% year-to-date growth in our retail deposit, as it reflected the benefit of improved customer service and continued customer acquisition. We are committed to exceeding our 2018 deposit growth target in the year, with strategic focus on retail, low cost savings and current accounts, which is critical to sustaining our NIM uptrend,” he explained.
He said, “We are committed to responsible lending, as we seek to maintain our asset quality. We achieved a 40bps year-on-year savings in cost of risk, a reflection of the quality of our loan portfolio.
He expressed confidence on the steady recovery of the Nigerian economy and improving fundamentals of most African countries, where the bank operates.
Uzoka emphasized the increasing relevance of its African operations to its bottom line, adding that, “Reflecting our market share gain, we have grown the balance sheet by 6% in the first three months of the year, as we increasingly become systemically important across the 19 other African countries, where we operate. Barring unforeseen circumstances, we look forward to sustaining this strong performance through the year, with the primary objective of delivering superior return to our shareholders.”
Also speaking on UBA’s financial performance and position, Ugo Nwaghodoh, Group CFO said Management is committed to delivering on the Group’s financial goals for the year.
He said, “We are diligently executing our priorities for the year, as we focus on profitable growth. We are making strong progress in Nigeria, where our continuous market share gain is translating into higher profit. We grew non-funded income by 20%, driven by annuity-type offerings in digital banking. Precisely, the electronic banking income grew 33% year-on-year and we recorded an impressive 40% growth in trade service income, as customers become loyal ambassadors of our enhanced service channels and customer service.”
Continuing, he stated, “I am pleased that our drive towards optimal scale across our subsidiary operations is progressing well. More importantly, the contribution of these foreign operations to the Group’s profit is impressively reflective of geographic diversification.
“We remain resolute on our determination to leverage growing scale across our foreign operations to extract further cost efficiency, with the objective of moderating our cost to income ratio. More so, our profitability in the first quarter of the year reinforces the Group’s capacity to deliver on target, as our profit for the period translates to 18% return on average equity” Nwaghodoh s
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has commenced the implementation of a fully electronic registration system for capital market operators, marking a major milestone in its digital transformation drive aimed at improving regulatory efficiency, reducing processing time and strengthening oversight of Nigeria’s capital market.
The new electronic registration (e-Registration) platform, deployed through the Commission’s ePortal, allows designated regulatory services to be completed entirely online, eliminating manual processes for services covered in the current phase.
The initiative comes as the SEC intensifies reforms to modernise the Nigerian capital market, enhance the ease of doing business and leverage technology to improve service delivery to market participants.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Commission said Capital Market Operators (CMOs) can now complete designated post-registration processes electronically, from application submission and regulatory review to approvals and the communication of regulatory decisions.
According to the regulator, the platform is designed to simplify interactions between operators and the Commission, reduce administrative bottlenecks, shorten processing timelines and give applicants real-time visibility into the status of their applications.
The SEC said the transition to a fully digital registration process would also improve operational efficiency by introducing standardised workflows, electronic documentation, secure digital record management and stronger audit trails, while enhancing regulatory oversight.
“The new platform represents a major step towards creating a seamless digital regulatory ecosystem that enhances operational efficiency while strengthening regulatory effectiveness,” the Commission stated.
Beyond improving efficiency, the regulator said the platform would reinforce the integrity of regulatory processes by minimising delays associated with paper-based documentation and improving the quality of regulatory data used for supervision and decision-making.
It added that the digital system would provide a stronger foundation for regulatory analytics and future technology-driven innovations aimed at enhancing market oversight.
The Commission explained that the implementation is being rolled out in phases to ensure a smooth transition for market participants while safeguarding the stability and integrity of regulatory processes.
For now, the e-Registration platform is limited to post-registration services for existing Capital Market Operators.
entrants seeking registration in the Nigerian capital market are not yet covered under the current phase, adding that electronic processing for new registrations will be introduced at a later date.
The Commission urged all licensed operators to familiarise themselves with the new platform and comply with implementation timelines to ensure a seamless migration to the digital system.
The latest move forms part of the SEC’s broader reform agenda to modernise market infrastructure, improve transparency and strengthen investor confidence as Nigeria seeks to deepen its capital market and enhance its competitiveness in the global financial system.
Market observers believe the digital registration initiative is expected to reduce compliance costs, improve regulatory turnaround time and support a more efficient operating environment for licensed operators, while reinforcing the Commission’s push towards a technology-driven capital market ecosystem.
Elon Musk’s social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, launched its own bank account-like product where users can send money to one another.
The service, known as X Money, is not a new bank.
X Money is using technology and banking services provided by Cross River Bank, and branding that backbone as X Money.
It is common for new financial companies to use a traditional bank’s backbone to launch its services, as chartering a new bank is a timely and costly process.
Currently X Money is invite only, and users will receive a “X”-branded Visa debit card that is useable at any ATM.
Users of X will be able to send money to other X users in real-time, the company said. Invitations are only available to X’s paying members presently
In order to attract customers, X Money is offering a 6% yield on deposits and 3% cashback on eligible purchases.
In order to earn the 6% yield, a customer would need to deposit at least $1,000 into an account.
Customers would also have to be signed up for X’s premium services, which is at least $8 a month. It would require at least a deposit of $1,600 in order to cover X’s premium services cost.
Musk has long talked about turning X into an “everything app” that would include financial services.
Musk has his origins in financial services, creating one of the first online banks under the brand X.com. That company was later bought and merged into what is now known as PayPal.
It’s still early for X Money, but the company is entering into a competitive market, dominated by PayPal’s Venmo money transfer service and other peer-to-peer money transfer services like Zelle and Cash App.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) imposed N430 million in penalties on financial institutions in 2025 over delays in resolving customer complaints and failure to comply with its directives, underscoring a tougher regulatory stance on consumer protection in the banking sector.
The sanctions were disclosed in the apex bank’s 2025 Annual Report, which showed that 21 penalties worth N430 million were imposed on financial institutions during the review period for infractions linked to complaints management.
According to Nairametrics, the report stated that the affected institutions were sanctioned for “delays in resolving customer complaints to failure to comply with the Bank’s directives.”
The report read, “the Bank imposed 21 penalties on financial institutions to the tune of N430.00 million, for infractions ranging from delays in resolving customer complaints to failure to comply with the Bank’s directives.”
The latest enforcement action comes as the CBN recorded a rise in the number of complaints lodged by users of financial services, suggesting greater reliance on the regulator’s consumer protection framework.
According to the report, the CBN received 23,129 complaints from consumers of financial services in 2025, representing a 10.53% increase from the 20,925 complaints recorded in 2024.
The apex bank attributed the increase to growing public awareness and stronger confidence in its complaint resolution process rather than a deterioration in banking services.
The report stated, “The Bank received a total of 23,129 complaints from consumers of financial services in 2025, a rise of 10.53%, above the 20,925 in 2024. The trend reflected increased awareness and improved confidence in the Bank’s consumer complaint resolution process.”
It added that 18,824 complaints were successfully resolved during the year, representing a 9.36% increase from the 17,213 complaints resolved in 2024.
The report also showed a sharp increase in the value of claims handled by the regulator.
Claims denominated in local currency rose to N40.61 billion in 2025 from N17.13 billion a year earlier, while foreign currency claims climbed to $344.2 million from $1.06 million.
consumers recovered N19.12 billion and $329.3 million in refunds during the year, compared with N9.66 billion and $0.67 million refunded in 2024.
Beyond the N430 million sanctions relating to customer complaints, the CBN disclosed that it imposed another 11 penalties worth N1.26 billion on financial institutions for regulatory breaches and failure to respond to regulatory queries.
The report indicates that complaints management formed part of a wider overhaul of the CBN’s supervisory and market conduct framework in 2025.
In 2022, the CBN issued a guide on how aggrieved customers can complain about financial institutions such as commercial banks.
The regulator established a dedicated Compliance Department to strengthen oversight of financial crime, market conduct, complaints management, advertising standards, cybersecurity, data protection and corporate governance across CBN-regulated institutions.
Olayemi Cardoso, governor, CBN, recently said that the CBN and deposit money banks are reviewing excessive transaction alerts and customer charges amid complaints from bank users over confusing debit notifications and deductions.
Cardoso said the apex bank had set up a quarterly engagement structure involving its consumer protection team, deposit money banks and the top 10 microfinance banks to address unresolved customer complaints.
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