Home » LEBANON BRIEF » Issue October 2017
The activity at the Rafic Hariri International Airport continued its substantial growth as the total number of passengers rose by an annual 6.55% to stand at 6.4M in the first 9 months of the year. In ... read more
According to Ernest and Young’s Hotel Benchmark Survey, some regional hospitality markets dipped by Sept.2017, compared to the same period last year. However, four and five-star hotels mainly in Beirut and ... read more
BLOM Bank announced today its un-audited financial results for the first nine months of 2017. The results are quite robust, considering the slowdown in the Lebanese economy and the political troubles still ... read more
The consolidated financial statements of Bank Audi, in the first three quarters of 2017, witnessed a yearly rise of 24.64% in profits to $437M and “$341M excluding net profits came from the sale of the ... read more
The consolidated financial statements of BEMO Bank showed an increase in the bank’s profit of 28.2% year-on-year (YOY) to $13.32M by September 2017. The higher profit was a result of an increase in the net ... read more
The consolidated financial statements of Byblos Bank revealed a 0.76% year-on-year (YOY) uptick in Byblos Bank’s profit to $114.5M by September 2017. The bank’s official statement explains the increase in ... read more
According to Kafalat, the number of loan guarantees dropped from 546 guarantees by September 2016 to 447 guarantees by September 2017. The overall value of the guarantees fell by 26.31% to reach $54.20M by ... read more
Port of Beirut (PoB) recorded a 3.31% yearly drop in its revenues to reach $174.49M during the first three quarters of the year. By September, total container activity including transshipment (TEU+TS) rose ... read more
According to the Ministry of Finance, transfers to EDL doubled the first 2 months of 2017, compared to the same period last year, reaching LBP 309.07B ($250.02M). This rise mainly resulted from the ... read more
According to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), Lebanon’s average inflation rate rose by 4.32% by September 2017. The average costs of “Housing and utilities” (including: water, ... read more
Rymco’s board of directors invited its shareholders to attend an ordinary General Assembly at the company’s headquarters in Chiah at 10 o’clock on Friday the 17th of November 2017. On the board’s agenda, ... read more
According to the Lebanese Customs, trade activity at Lebanon’s main customs offices slipped by August 2017, compared to the same period in 2016. In fact, total imports’ value fell by a yearly 1.58% to ... read more
Lebanon’s trade deficit narrowed by 1.28% year-on-year (y-o-y) to reach $10.69B by August 2017. In fact, total imports dropped by a yearly 1.58% to $12.59B by August 2017 while exports slid by a yearly ... read more
Data from the Lebanese Cadastre Registry indicated that the number of real estate (R.E) transactions rose by 13.66% year-on-year (y-o-y) to reach 67,805 transactions by September 2017. Accordingly, the ... read more
According to the latest data published by Lebanon’s Ministry of Finance (MoF), Personnel costs increased by a yearly 4%, to reach $4.40B by November 2016. In fact, the growth in public wages was mainly ... read more
According to the balance sheet of the Lebanese Central Bank (BdL), total assets rose by 14.85% year-to-date (y-t-d) to reach $117.52B in mid-October. In details, Foreign assets (constituting 37.02% of ... read more
According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Lebanon’s gross public debt continued to rise by a yearly 4.36%, to hit $77.27B by Aug. 2017. In details, Debt in local currency LBP (61.4% of the total gross ... read more
Solidere’s consolidated financial statements for the first 6 months of 2017 revealed an $18.9M loss compared to a net profit of $72.10M over the same period in 2016. The company’s total revenues were ... read more
According to the Association of Lebanese Car Importers, the number of newly registered commercial and passenger cars registered a slight drop of 1.88% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 29,985 cars by September 2017. ... read more
According to Lebanon’s commercial banks’ balance sheet, total assets grew 2.04% year-to-date (y-t-d) and 6.95% y-o-y, to $209.39B by August 2017. The reason behind the y-t-d rise in assetswere the ... read more
According to Global Blue, tourist spending in Lebanon rose by a yearly 7% by Q3 2017, compared to the same period last year. The rise is mainly attributed to an increasing tourist spending of GCC ... read more
According to the Association of Lebanese Banks (ABL), the total number and value of cleared checks increased by 0.65% and 2.06% year-on-year (y-o-y) to stand at 8.22 million (M) and $45.79 billion (B), ... read more
According to Banque du Liban’s (BDL) Circular #473, the ceiling on the amount of subsidized housing loans has been upped from a previous LBP 800 million ( around $530,679) to LBP 1.2 billion ($796,020). ... read more
According to the Central Bank of Lebanon, Lebanon’s Balance of Payments (BoP) registered a deficit of $647.1M by August 2017, compared to a $366.2M surplus recorded in the same period last year. As such, ... read more
According to the Central Bank’s balance sheet, total assets reached $117.02B in September 2017, up by 14.37% since the beginning of the year. In details, Foreign assets (37.62% of total assets), witnessed ... read more
According to Ernest and Young’s Hotel Benchmark Survey, some regional hospitality markets dipped by Aug.2017, compared to the same period last year. However, 4 and five-star hotels in Beirut and Mekkah ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) rose by a weekly 0.60% to 1,167.50 points this Friday, following the release of the listed banks’ financial results for the first nine months of the year. During the week an ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market Demand for the Lebanese Pound steadied over the past week on the Lebanese forex market with the value of the Lebanese Pound trading within the range of $/LP 1,513.75-1,514.25 with a ... read more
During the week of 12 – 19 October 2017, Broad Money (M3) declined by a weekly LBP 32B ($21M) to reach LBP 208,876B ($139B). Nonetheless, M3 grew by 7.50% on a year-on-year basis and a similar 4.94% ... read more
Over the past week, the BLOM Bond Index (BBI) gained an incremental 0.11%, to end the week at 102.38 points. However, the BBI was surpassed by the JP Morgan Emerging Markets’ Bond Index (EMBI) which rose ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) rose by a weekly 0.44% to 1,160.50 points this Friday. During the week an average of 121,735 shares worth $1.20M were traded compared to an average of 151,761 shares worth ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market Demand for the Lebanese Pound steadied over the past week on the Lebanese forex market with the value of the Lebanese Pound trading within the range of $/LP 1,513.75-1,514.25 with a ... read more
During the week of 29 – 5 October 2017, Broad Money (M3) rose by a weekly LBP 766B ($508M) to reach LBP 208,981B ($138.63B). In addition, M3 grew by 7.42% on a year-on-year basis and a similar 7.42% ... read more
Over the past week, the BLOM Bond Index (BBI) slipped by 1.27%, to end the week at 102.27 points. Likewise, the JP Morgan Emerging Markets’ Bond Index (EMBI) also fell by 0.89%, to end the week at 800.13 ... read more
During the week of 29 – 5 October 2017, Broad Money (M3) rose by a weekly LBP 766B ($508M) to reach LBP 208,981B ($138.63B). In addition, M3 grew by 7.42% on a year-on-year basis and a similar 7.42% ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market Demand for the Lebanese Pound steadied over the past week on the Lebanese forex market with the value of the Lebanese Pound trading within the range of $/LP 1,513.75-1,514.25 with a ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) rose by a weekly 0.06% to 1,155.46 points this Friday. During the week an average of 151,761 shares worth $1.57M were traded compared to an average of 170,306 shares worth $1.67M ... read more
Over the past week, the BLOM Bond Index (BBI) marginally slipped by 0.15%, to end the week at 103.59 points. Meanwhile, the JP Morgan Emerging Markets’ Bond Index (EMBI) incrementally rose by 0.22%, to end ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market Demand for the Lebanese Pound steadied over the past week on the Lebanese forex market with the value of the Lebanese Pound trading within the range of $/LP 1,513.75-1,514.25 with a ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) dropped by a weekly 0.06% to 1,154.71 points this Friday. On average, 170,306 shares worth $1.67M were traded this week compared to 81,393 shares worth $644,542 traded last week. ... read more
Over the past week, the BLOM Bond Index (BBI) slipped by 0.18%, to end the week at 103.75 points. Meanwhile, the JP Morgan Emerging Markets’ Bond Index (EMBI) registered a marginal uptick of 0.02% to end ... read more
Over the same period, M1 contracted by LBP 80B ($54M) to LBP 9,605B ($6B). Its decrease is mainly attributed to a LBP 141B ($94M) drop in currency in circulation and a LBP 61B ($40M) uptick in demand ... read more
Over the past week, the BLOM Bond Index (BBI) rose by 0.49%, to end the week at 103.94 points. The JP Morgan Emerging Markets’ Bond Index (EMBI) registered a close performance, increasing by a weekly 0.47% ... read more
The somewhat positive movement on the BSE continues to be mostly led by banking and industrial stocks while real estate stocks are still registering a negative performance. Accordingly, the BLOM Stock ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market Demand for the Lebanese Pound steadied over the past week on the Lebanese forex market with the value of the Lebanese Pound trading within the range of $/LP 1,513.75-1,514.25 with a ... read more
During the week of 14 -21 September 2017, Broad Money M3 dropped by a weekly LBP 45B ($30M) to reach LBP 208,712B ($138.45B). In addition, M3 recorded growth rates of 7.47% on a year-on-year basis and ... read more
Contraction in the private sector’s economy accelerated in October as the BLOM PMI declined further to 45.8 points. The index remained below the neutral mark of 50, separating economic contraction from ... read more
Business conditions of Lebanon’s private sector companies saw further deterioration during the ninth month of the year. “The PMI was again discouraging in September 2017, recording a level of 46, the ... read more
Net Profit($ mn) ROAcE (%) ROAA(%) Cost-to-Income (%) BLOM 356.93 16.93 1.55 34.37 Audi 341.39* 13.70 1.02 52.91 BoB 151.98 11.99 1.17 44.77 Byblos 114.53 8.41 0.71 53.20 * Does not include ... read more
The traditional Lebanese Coffee is part of the life of Lebanese and Arab coffee drinkers. Sharing it is synonymous to quality time with family or loved ones, to make friends, to be hospitable, to welcome ... read more
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on October 19, 2017, on page 4. Economic growth in Lebanon has long been associated with growth in real estate, construction and ... read more
The World Bank recently released a report entitled “Jobs for North Lebanon” in which it discusses the labor market in “fragile and conflict-affected” regions of Lebanon. According to the World Bank, their ... read more
The performance of Lebanese banks in the year 2016 is featured in this report below: Bilanbanque Report 2016 read more