UBA did not declare a final dividend for the 2025 financial year, Chief Executive Oliver Alawuba said, after the bank recognised large provisions tied to a regulatory reclassification of loans.
Alawuba told investors the decision flowed from a Central Bank of Nigeria requirement that banks exit the regulatory forbearance loan window and realign with prudential loan classification rules. "A directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria required banks to exit the regulatory forbearance loan window and fully align with prudential loan classification standards. Exiting the forbearance regime necessitated the reclassification of certain credit exposures and the recognition of significant provisions. In 2025, UBA prudently provided approximately N1.021 trillion, which temporarily elevated our non-performing loan ratio beyond the threshold required for dividend distribution," he said.
The size of the provision was the decisive factor. UBA had paid total dividends of N2.80 per share in 2023 and N3.25 per share in 2024; the bank said the elevated non-performing loan ratio after the 2025 reclassification made a final payout that year untenable. Management also emphasised that the write-downs were not the end of the story: the bank is pursuing recoveries on the impacted exposures that it expects will eventually reverse some charges.
"These efforts are expected to result in write-backs as recoveries materialize, supporting a normalisation of asset quality metrics. The good news is that these are recoverable assets. As we make progress on recoveries, we expect to see improvements in our non-performing loan ratio and position the Bank for a return to dividend payments," Alawuba said, framing the provisions as a temporary hit tied to regulatory cleanup rather than a permanent erosion of capital.
The numbers the bank published underline both the strain and its capacity to lend. UBA recorded approximately 2 per cent loan growth in the first quarter of 2026, a turnaround from flat lending in 2025, and reported customer deposits of N27.2 trillion against a loan book of approximately N7 trillion. Alawuba flagged that deposit-to-loan metrics as a source of "significant headroom for risk-calibrated lending expansion." The bank’s first-quarter operating release is available in more detail in Round Time News coverage at Uba Bank posts stronger income but Q1 profits fall as assets hold steady.
The contrast creates the story’s tension: UBA says it has a large, stable funding base and modest loan growth, yet regulatory adjustments and the resulting provisions temporarily block dividend payments. Management insists the affected credits are being actively pursued. "The bank said it is actively pursuing recovery of impacted loan exposures," the company noted, and it expects recoveries to "support write-backs and normalisation of asset quality metrics." That path to restored dividends depends on recoveries materialising at scale and the non-performing loan ratio falling back below distribution thresholds.
Oliver Alawuba framed the choice as a defensive one. "Our priority is to protect the long-term value of the institution while navigating regulatory changes responsibly. We remain confident that 2026 will mark a return to stronger profitability and dividend capacity," he said, offering an explicit timeline for when shareholders might see payouts again. If recoveries and the modest lending rebound continue, the balance sheet — heavy with deposits relative to loans — gives UBA room to rebuild earning assets without risking liquidity.
For shareholders the immediate question is whether recoveries will produce enough write-backs soon enough to reopen dividend capacity within the year. The bank’s management has tied its own outlook to those recoveries and to improved asset-quality ratios; its guidance and the early signs of loan growth make 2026 the year to watch. Round Time News has covered other national developments this week, including a courtroom confrontation between Sowore and Abubakar Malami at Sowore confronts Abubakar Malami in viral Abuja court exchange over charges and the All Progressives Congress response to the Pubagu attack at All Progressives Congress condemns deadly Pubagu attack in Borno state, underscoring how corporate and political headlines are arriving side by side.
