United Capital reports 89% surge in nine-month profit

Financial and investment services company United Capital Plc said its net profit for the year to September jumped by 88.7 per cent, compared to the same period of last year, according to its earnings report issued on Wednesday.

Revenue for the group, whose operations include investment banking, mergers & acquisitions, project finance, microfinance and asset management among others, enlarged by more than three-fifths to N28.2 billion.

It achieved the sharp top-line growth, thanks to a major boost to fee & commission income and exchange gains.

“United Capital group recorded an impressive performance in Q3 2024 despite the challenging and uncertain business environment characterised by rising inflationary trend, volatile currency exchange rate amid the fast-changing macroeconomic landscape,” CEO Peter Ashade said in a separate document.

“In September, we successfully led the historic issuance of Nigeria’s first-ever Domestic FGN US Dollar bond, raising over $900 million and achieving an outstanding 180 per cent subscription rate,” he added.

United Capital launched its microfinance arm, UCee Microfinance Bank, in August, marking the seventh subsidiary of the group, which, until 2014, was a unit of United Bank for Africa.

Total expenses for the period under review climbed to N11.4 billion from N8.3 billion. The company’s share of accumulated profit of associate companies rose 260 per cent to N1.7 billion.

United Capital holds a 25 per cent stake in underwriter Heirs Insurance Limited and another 25 per cent interest in Heirs Assurance Limited.

Profit before tax for the review period advanced 92.7 per cent to N18.7 billion, while profit after tax increased to N16 billion from N8.5 billion a year ago.

Total comprehensive income dipped 6 per cent to N35 billion.

Profit margin, a profitability ratio that measures how much of revenue has been turned into net profit, stood at 56.8 per cent in contrast to 48.4 per cent a year ago.

United Capital’s total assets grew more than one-third to N1.3 trillion during the period compared to the end of last year.

The stock has shed 21.3 per cent so far this year.

Last May, Financial Times ranked United Capital 67th on its list of Africa’s fastest-growing companies for 2023.