The intense retail drive of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has yielded a good result as its customer deposits crossed the N1 trillion mark in the third quarter of 2020.

The lender, in its financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2020, disclosed that the deposits increased by 28 per cent to N1.1 trillion in the period under consideration from N886.3 billion it stood in the full year of 2019.

Union Bank is one financial institution that has invested heavily in customer-led products and digital channels and this led to the acquisition of over 600,000 customers, deepening its wallet share of existing customers despite the harsh operating environment in 2020 generally.

According to the CEO of Union Bank, Mr Emeka Emuwa, this achievement “reflects increasing customer loyalty and our intense retail drive. Our customer acquisition strategy has been reinforced by the versatility of our digital platforms and channels which continue to drive customer satisfaction.”

In the first nine months of the year, the gross earnings of the company went up to N121.4 billion from N117.2 billion, with interest income slightly up to N85.6 billion from N85.2 billion in the same period of last year, while the interest expense reduced to N43.5 billion from N48.2 billion, with the net interest income after impairment charge for credit losses down to N36.0 billion from N41.7 billion.

During the nine-month period in consideration, the net fee and commission income dropped to N7.2 billion from N9.0 billion. However, the net trading income went up to N11.9 billion from N4.6 billion, while the non-interest income grew to N33.5 billion from N26.5 billion, with the operating income rising to N69.5 billion from N68.2 billion.

According to the financial statements analysed by Ebonymediagist, the profit before tax of Union Bank marginally declined to N15.4 billion from N15.6 billion, while the profit after tax slightly dropped to N15.1 billion from N15.2 billion, with the earnings per share (EPS) at 54 kobo as against 51 kobo a year ago.

In the views of Mr Emuwa, “Heading into the final stretch in 2020, our overarching commitment is to the health and wellbeing of our employees and the safety of our customers.

“Showing up for our communities is also at the core of who we are and, therefore, we will work with our partners and through our corporate citizenship initiatives to support individuals, businesses and our communities where we operate as we begin to rebuild and heal as a country.”

However, he stressed that, “The civil unrest which erupted in October and led to a significant destruction of property and small businesses across the country, will have a real impact on business and the operating environment; and even as restrictions have eased, COVID-19 also remains a present threat in our day-to-day.