The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has refuted allegations that it plans to nationalise Unity Bank Plc. The apex bank dismissed the report, which was published by some online media firms, as fake news.
This was disclosed by the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Osita Nwanisobi.
He said, “The report is fake news. There is no iota of truth in it. The public should disregard such news.”
The report had claimed that the apex bank’s target examination of Unity Bank showed that the Tier 2 lender is in ”grave financial condition,” with Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) and Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio that breached prudential standards.
What you should know about the industry
CBN, in its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, noted in the communiqué it issued at the end of the meeting, that the banking industry is in good health.
The communique partly read: “The Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) and the Liquidity Ratio (LR) both remained above their prudential limits at 15.8 and 38.9 per cent, respectively. The Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) at 5.89 per cent in April 2021, showed progressive improvement compared with 6.6 per cent in April 2020.”
What you should know about Unity’s result
Unity Bank’s audited FY’ 2020 results showed improved performance in key parameters. For instance, the bank’s gross loans portfolio increased by 92.9% to N206.2 billion in 2020 from N106.9 billion in 2019.
Its total assets rose by 67.90% when compared with N293.05 billion achieved in the comparative period of 2019. Also, the lender posted gross earnings of N42.71 billion compared with N44.59 billion recorded in the comparative period of 2019, reflective of its business and economic realities of the time.
