United Capital’s half-year profit surges 64% on bumper boost in fees and commission

United Capital Plc said its after-tax profit for the six months to June jumped by almost two-thirds, riding on enlarged earnings from fees & commission, which received a 127.9 per cent boost, and in part from investment income.

The period was also marked by a lifting in revenue to N6.854 billion, equivalent to a surge of more than half, according to the unaudited half-year financials of the investment bank obtained from the Nigerian Exchange Friday.

“United Capital Plc is in a growth phase… we will be focused on our transformation agenda by deepening our value propositions to underserved market segments especially mass affluent and mass market clients, while driving phased automation of our business processes,” Peter Ashade, the chief executive, said of plans for the rest of 2021 in another document.

But an arrested growth in income from managed funds means its overall investment income could only manage a 26.6 per cent rise to N3.655 billion, up from the N2.888 billion reported in the same period of last year.

United Capital, a subsidiary of United Bank of Africa once upon a time, recorded a less than 1 per cent improvement in its income from managed funds even though interest generated from this earnings category increased from N4.126 billion to N7.451 billion, raising concerns about spiralling costs in the firm’s asset management operations.

The operating expenses of the financial services company consolidated at N3.114 billion. That compares with the N2.179 posted January through June last year.

Profit before income tax stood at N3.142 billion, leaping higher by 64.2 per cent at roughly the same pace at which the profit for the period grew.

Earnings per share, a measure of how much of the company’s profit each of its shares earned in the period, was almost two-third bigger at N1.04.

UCAP.LG – United Capital plc Profile | Reuters
Reuters Editorial

Shares in United Capital was quoted at N6.49 per unit at 11:20 WAT in Lagos on Friday, trading up 3.02 per cent.