United Capital Plc (NGX: UCAP) has posted a decent top and bottom-line earnings growth in its recently released unaudited financial statements for the period ended March 31, 2023.
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The foremost investment and pan-African financial services Group delivered stable growth across key income lines as Gross Earnings rose 27% year-on-year to N5.34 billion, PBT grew 5% year-on-year to N2.82billion, and PAT was up 6% year-on-year to N2.44 billion.
Commenting on the Group’s performance, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Peter Ashade, had this to say:
“I am pleased to inform our stakeholders that despite the economic peculiarities associated with election years, we recorded positive growth across our top and bottom line earnings during the first quarter, amid elevated cost of doing business and volatile financial markets globally in addition to a heated political landscape among other uncertainties in our domestic economy.
Our business diversification strategy which we have pursued concertedly since 2019, and prudent risk management practice is yielding desired results in line with our long-term vision, sustaining our earnings growth, protecting investors’ assets, and strengthening our business model to withstand macroeconomic shocks in the harsh operating environment which continues to present a challenge for policymakers globally.
Our business outlook and projections for the year remains positive and we are laserfocused on creating new business opportunities, improving our value propositions to meet our clients’ needs, and capturing optimal economic value to deliver decent returns to shareholders”.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE RESULT
Statement of Profit or Loss:
Year-on-Year Analysis reveals the following:
- Gross Earnings: N5.34 billion in Q1 2023, compared to N4.21 billion in Q1 2022 (27% growth year-on-year)
- Net Operating Income: N4.94 billion in Q1 2023, compared to N3.55 billion in Q1 2022 (39% growth year-on-year)
- Operating expenses: N2.66 billion in Q1 2023, compared to N1.64 billion in Q1 2022 (62% growth year-on-year)
- Profit Before Tax: N2.82 billion in Q1 2023, compared to N N2.69 billion in Q1 2022 (5% growth year-on-year)
- Profit After Tax: N2.44 billion in Q1 2023, compared to N2.31 billion in Q1 2022 (6% growth year-on-year)
- Annualized Earnings Per Share: 163 kobo. (Q1 2022: 154 kobo)
Statement of Financial Position:
- Total Assets: N727.55 billion, compared to N601.92 billion as at FY 2022 (21% year-to-date growth)
- Total Liabilities: N700.85 billion, compared to N568.93 billion as at FY 2022 (23% year-to-date growth)
- Shareholders Fund: N26.71 billion, an 19% year-to-date decrease relative to FY 2022’s value at N32.99 billion.
Comparing Q1-2023 with Q1-2022, the following are worthy of note:
- Gross Earnings: Gross earnings grew by 27% year-on-year driven by growth in Fee and Commission income (+4% year-on-year), Investment Income (+66% year-onyear) and Net trading income (+148% year-on-year).
- PBT and PAT: PBT and PAT grew 5% and 6% to N2.68billion and N2.57billion respectively driven by strong revenue growth which helped offset the impact of 62% rise in operating expenses amid high inflation and impairments.
- Total Assets: United Capital’s total assets appreciated by 21% year-to-date largely driven by 22% growth in cash and cash equivalents and 24% growth in investment securities during the period under review
- Total Liabilities: The company’s total liabilities grew by 23% year-to-date driven by 7% year-to-date growth in managed funds and 214% year-to-date increase in other liabilities during the period under review.
The company shall be hosting an Investors and Analysts conference call in due course to discuss our performance and overall outlook for the
next quarter of 2023. The date and further details with respect to the conference call would be circulated in due course.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
