United Bank for Africa PLC

The stable outlook on our long-term ratings on UBA reflects that on Nigeria (B-/Stable/B). If we were to take a negative rating action on Nigeria, we would take a similar negative action on the bank (within 12 months). A rating action reflecting an improvement of Nigeria's sovereign creditworthiness would result in a similar positive action on the bank (within 12 months), all else being equal. The group is headquartered in Nigeria but has operations in 19 countries in Africa. The 'b' anchor is based on our Nigeria industry risk score of '9' (on a scale of 1-10, '1' denoting the lowest risk and '10' denoting the highest) and a blended economic risk score of '10'. The blended economic risk score

...Our ratings on United Bank for Africa PLC (UBA or the group) are constrained by the sovereign credit rating on Nigeria. The group's stand-alone credit profile (SACP) of 'b+' reflects the 'b' blended anchor and the bank's strong business position. We do not rate Nigerian banks above the sovereign because of the likely direct and indirect influence of a sovereign distress on the banks' operations including their ability to service foreign currency obligations. In our view, higher earnings will bolster regulatory capitalization in 2023. We expect UBA's earnings to improve in 2023. Growth will be supported by the higher interest rate environment, growth in fees and commissions, and revaluation gains, with a return on equity (ROE) ratio of over 40%. The group's regulatory capital adequacy ratio (CAR) increased to 36.3% as of June 30, 2023, from 28.3% on Dec. 31, 2022, higher than our capital measure and well above...

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