Unity Bank increases loan portfolio by 94.3% in 2020

Unity Bank Plc increased its loan portfolio to customers by 94.3% to stand at N202.1 billion as of December 2020.

This is contained in its 2020 audited financial report, recently released on the website of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

According to the result posted, its gross loan portfolio increased by 94.3% from N104 billion recorded as of December 2019 to stand at N202.1 billion as of the end of the 2020 financial year.

Other highlights

Gross earnings dipped by 4.2% to stand at N42.7 billion. Profit after tax stood at N4.09 billion (-38.3%)Total assets grew by 67.9%, stood at N492 billion. Deposits from customers also increased by 38.4%. Stood at N356.6 billion as of December 2020.

Total liabilities was N767.4 billion (+34.2%). According to the bank’s press release as seen by Nairametrics, the Managing Director, Mrs Tomi Somefun stated that the bank has solidly financed over one million farmers in the past three years. She also stated that the farmers cut across several primary crop production such as rice, maize, cotton, wheat, sorghum, etc.

What they are saying

Commenting on the result, Unity Bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Tomi Somefun stated that the results showed the resilience of the bank during unprecedented times of uncertainties and its ability to innovate and focus on key balance sheet items that will enable the bank to maintain a growth trajectory.

She further opined that “Consequently, for the year under review, the opportunities to significantly create more quality assets for the business, thought to have a sustainable impact, informed part of choices made and we have seen some encouraging market uptake in this regard, apart from the benefits to the enterprise bottom-line that have also started trickling in. Other key performance indicators especially on the liability side of the business were equally not left out.”

The bank deployed new product features and augmentation supported by omnichannel, USSD promotions and other channels to enhance services delivery efficiency, drive income generation capacities and enhance steady balance sheet growth for the year.”

However, Somefun stated that; “We will latch on targeted strategies to deploy significant investment in technology in order to ride the waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the back of this, the bank focuses on achieving major efficiency gains, deepening its retail footprints and penetrating identified cluster market segments, as bulwarks to tapping into various youth market platforms, in addition to the mass market would get a further boost.”

She also reiterated that the bank is also looking to consolidate on the gains from its core business areas and niche in the agribusiness sector.