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Union Bank of Nigeria said on Wednesday that its 2016 half-year profit rose 38 per cent year-on-year to N8.76 billion from N6.36 billion recorded in a similar period last year.

The rise in Union Bank’s half-year profit reflected the significant growth in gross earnings recorded during the period under review. Gross earnings rose to N60.67 billion in H1 2016, 8.4 per cent higher than the N55.39 billion recorded in H1 2015.

“The 2016 H1 are evidence of the successful transformation of the Union Bank brand,” said Oyinkan Adewale, Union Bank’s Chief Financial Offer. “We are now able to deliver simpler, smarter banking solutions to our customers and that shows in the numbers.”

Union Bank said net interest income rose 18 per cent year-on-year to N30.95 billion in H1 2016 from N26.27 billion in H1 2015. Non-interest income was N15.73 billion in H1 2016, up 25 per cent from N12.56 billion in H1 2015.

“We had a 20 per cent reduction in interest expense because we had little or no reliance on interbank funding in H1 2016,” Adewale said.

Union Bank said its loan book grew by 30 per cent to N475.94 billion in H1 2016 from N366.72 billion in H1 2015 partly due to the impact of the naira devaluation on its foreign currency borrowing.

“Our foreign currency loan book when we converted it post-devaluation had grown by 20 per cent,” Adewale said. “So the real growth in the loan book is just 13 per cent from well-selected sectors and well-structured transactions.”

For the period under review, Union Bank said basic per share earnings rose 37 per cent to 52 kobo in H1 2016 from 38 kobo in H1 2015. The company’s stock remained flat at N4.4 per share on the NSE on Wednesday.