Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has announced a slip in after-tax profit for the nine-month period to September 2020 as huge operating expenditure continued to hurt earnings.
The lender’s unaudited financial statements published by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday showed that turnover increased modestly to N121.384 billion from N117.153 billion, signalling a 3.6 per cent rise.
Profit before tax edged down by 1.3 per cent to N15.435 billion from N15.644 billion.
Profit after tax also dropped to N15.069 billion from N15.192 billion.
The high cost of doing business pushed total expenses to N53.583 billion from N53.399 billion, thus impacting profit.
“The civil unrest which erupted in October and led to a significant destruction of property and small businesses across the country had a real impact on business and the operating environment.
“Even as restrictions have eased, COVID-19 also remains a present threat in our day to day operations,” Union Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Emeka Emuwa, said in a statement.
Earnings Per Share (EPS) climbed from N0.51 to N0.54 during the period.
With outstanding shares coming to around 29.190 billion units, Union Bank’s price-to-earnings ratio stood at 6.91 on Wednesday.
Its EPS is currently N0.85.
Shares in Union Bank closed on the NSE on Wednesday at N5.90 per share, up by N0.10.