United Capital Plc, the pan-African financial services group headed by Nigerian investment banker Peter Ashade, has announced robust financial results for the first nine months of its 2023 fiscal year, with a profit of $11 million.
According to its recently published financial statement, the company’s performance is marked by a 10-percent increase in profit after tax and a 20 percent surge in gross earnings compared to the same period in the previous year.
The figures released by the Lagos-based financial group reveal that profit after tax rose from N7.72 billion ($10.04 million) in the first nine months of 2022 to N8.47 billion ($11 million) in the corresponding period of 2023.
The growth in profit was primarily attributed to the robust performance of the group’s gross earnings, which increased by 20 percent, climbing from N14.55 billion ($18.8 million) in 9M 2022 to N17.51 billion ($22.65 million) in 9M 2023.
Despite a decline in fee and commission income, as well as net trading income during the period, the significant increase in gross earnings can be attributed to a 35-percent surge in the group’s investment income, which rose from N6.61 billion ($8.53 million) to N8.94 billion ($11.53 million).
Commenting on the unaudited financial results, Ashade, the group CEO, emphasized the resilience of United Capital’s performance, stating, “United Capital’s third quarter performance reflects our strong ability to deliver sustainable earnings despite the challenging operating business environment. This is on the back of a reinforced risk management system and solid execution capabilities.”
Ashade further outlined the company’s strategic objectives, noting, “While we are focused on our strategic objective of improving our services and financial offerings to our clients, we remain committed to our promise of delivering superior value to our shareholders.”
“This is evident in our performance as we grew gross earnings by 20 percent year-on-year to N17.51 billion ($22.65 million), total assets by 22 percent year-to-date to N732.5 billion ($945.4 million), and shareholders’ funds by 86 percent year-to-date to N61.21 billion ($79 million) during the period,” he concluded.
