United Bank for Africa Plc, a Nigerian lender operating in 22 countries, rose to the highest in six weeks last week, after saying first-quarter profit advanced 33 percent.
The shares climbed as much as 1.8 percent and traded 0.4 percent higher at N8.23 by the close on Tuesday in Lagos, the commercial capital where UBA is based, the highest since April 3.
More than 33 million shares were traded, or 1.1 times the three-month daily average. Net income for the three months through March increased to N16.3 billion ($104 million) from N12.3 billion a year earlier, it said in a filling to the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Revenue rose to N62.8 billion from N52.4 billion. Return on equity was 29.5 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
That figure “beats the 16 to 20 percent of most banks,” Bunmi Asaolu, an analyst at Lagos-based FBN Capital Ltd., said.
