The consolidated financial statements of Byblos Bank revealed a 2.9% annual uptick in Byblos Bank’s profits in the second half of 2017 (H2 2017), which ended the year at $170M.
According to the bank’s official statement, this growth is mainly attributed to: “Byblos Bank’s strategy for maintaining high liquidity levels to mitigate the effects of unpredictable shocks, and [the Board of Directors’ full commitments] to their conservative strategy […] by focusing on maintaining asset quality and protecting capital.” However, the report forecasts the banking sector’s profitability in 2018 to diminish, in light of the newly-introduced banks’ “double-taxation”.
In fact, Byblos Bank’s income statement revealed that Net gain from financial instruments at fair value and Net gain on financial assets at amortized costs both decreased by 39.51% y-o-y and 91.33% y-o-y to reach $32.14M and $24.04M,respectively.
The banks’ balance sheet showed that Total assets grew by an annual 5.21% to reach $22.66B in Q4 2017. Moreover, Customer loans increased by 9.12% y-o-y, to stand at $5.43B. On the liabilities side, Customers’ deposits showed a yearly rise of 9.59% by the end of 2017, to $17.75B, while Shareholders’ equity also climbed by 4.18% y-o-y to end the year at $1.88B.
Byblos Bank’s Financial Highlights in Q4 2017
(in USD Millions) | 31-Dec-17 | 31-Dec-16 | Y-o-Y |
Total Assets | 22,661.70 | 20,768.23 | 5.21% |
Net Loans and advances to customers at amortized cost | 5,434.82 | 5,165.69 | 9.12% |
Total Liabilities | 20,782.32 | 18,964.30 | 5.28% |
Customers’ Deposits at amortized cost | 17,749.73 | 16,859.46 | 9.59% |
Total Shareholders’ Equity | 1,879.39 | 1,803.94 | 4.18% |
Profit for the year | 170.12 | 165.33 | 2.90% |
Source: Byblos Bank, Beirut Stock Exchange