Tony Elumelu, chairman, United Bank for Africa, UBA, on Thursday said the bank was able to drive down its non-performing loans to a record low of 3.6 per cent in 2021, despite the growth in the bank’s loan book to N2.83tn in the same year.
He disclosed this in the 2021 Annual Report and Accounts of the bank, as released at the 60th Annual General Meeting of the bank in Abuja.
Elumelu assured shareholders and investors of the bank’s commitment to sustain its current growth trajectory, adding that its efforts at business diversification across Africa and beyond had continued to yield increasing returns.
On the loan performance of the bank, the UBA chairman briefly said, “Through our internal credit risk assessment models and dynamic recovery management, we were able to further drive down the ratio of our non-performing loans, to a record low of 3.6 per cent from 4.7 per cent in 2020.
“This was achieved despite the growth in our loan book to N2.83tn in the year (2021).”
He also noted that the bank’s investment decisions over the past few years had translated to huge returns for its investors, despite the challenging business environment witnessed in the last two years.
“I am proud of how as a group, we have been able to further consolidate on the new capabilities we have built, novel customer solutions we have deployed, efficiency gains recorded and the growth prospects we have leveraged from a recovering world,” Elumelu told shareholders at the AGM.