Unity Bank Posts N59.3B in Gross Earnings, Grows Deposits by 23% in 2023 FY

<h4>Unity Bank Posts<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a> <&sol;strong>reports that retail lender&comma; Unity Bank Plc posted gross earnings of N59&period;3 billion for the full year ended December 31&comma; 2023&comma; representing a growth of 3&period;84&percnt; year-on-year&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In its audited financials submitted to the NGX Group Limited&comma; the Bank also witnessed improvements across key performance indicators&comma; including a significant appreciation of customer deposits by 23&percnt; to N402&period;9 billion from N327&period;4 billion within the period under review – an indication of sustained retail growth and customer confidence&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Other key highlights of the full-year results include the total assets which stood at N472&period;5 billion&semi; net fee and income commission&comma; N5&period;2 billion and an increase in interest income by 9&period;6&percnt; to 53&period;7 billion from N48&period;8 billion within the period&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Commenting on the result&comma; the Managing Director&sol;Chief Executive Officer of Unity Bank Plc&comma; Mrs&period; Oluwatomi Somefun said the Bank had issued a profit alert to reflect revaluation loss arising from Naira devaluation which was due to acute shortage of Forex that created an inclement business environment and&comma; on the aggregate&comma; set in an economic headwind&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>She noted&comma; however&comma; that in the full-year statement&comma; this has bottomed out and the key performance indicators are rebounding from the low level of growth and negative trends that characterized the year&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mrs&period; Somefun stated&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<em><strong>As we begin to see the margins being closed&comma; it is an indication that the measures being taken to revamp all aspects of the business is being well received by the market&colon; be it workable recapitalization plan&comma; aggressive drive for asset creation&comma; product innovation&comma; or digital banking”&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<em><strong>We will need to covet the improvements and further build upon it&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;As a corporate brand&comma; we have a lot that is keeping us going&colon; the positive sentiments and optimism&comma; the growing franchise of the business and steady growth in different segments of the retail market across all the geo-political zones of Nigeria”<&sol;strong><&sol;em>&comma; She said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>She added&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<em><strong>We have the right indicators to reclaim lost grounds &&num;8211&semi; innovating with the development and soon to be launched omnichannel digital app to improve reliability&comma; customer experience&comma; support diverse products functionality which will impact earnings&comma; income and profitability<&sol;strong><&sol;em>&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Central Bank of Nigeria &lpar;CBN&rpar; has recently approved a business combination with another innovative Bank in Nigeria&comma; marking a significant milestone in the Bank&&num;8217&semi;s growth strategy as it advances its recapitalization plans&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This partnership is built on a shared vision to redefine the banking experience for our customers and will drive the transformation of the consolidated entity&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>By leveraging Unity Bank’s extensive branch network and strong customer relationships alongside the entity’s digital expertise and commitment to innovation&comma; we aim to create a seamless integration of traditional and modern banking services&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Amid a review of key highlights that support the steady growth of the retail business&comma; analysts are of the view that the Bank has continued to reflect a good outlook in terms of perception and confidence in the market&comma; which by and large creates an entity with remarkable resilience whilst investors’ sentiments remain positive&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;