On the heels of publishing its audited financial results for 2019, Byblos Bank published in late August 2020 its unaudited financial results for H1 2020. Net profit for H1 2020 was down to zero, falling from $59.94 million in H1 2019. Interesting to note that, the Bank booked $465.48 in net impairment on financial assets against booking only $16.44 million in H1 2019. Net interest income increased by 81.79% to $224.31 million whereas net fees and commissions fell by 6.1% to $43.51 million. In counterpoint, total operating expenses decreased by 15.71% to $101.62 million.
In terms of balance sheet items, total assets reached $20.12 billion in H1 2020, less by 8.23% from total assets at end 2019. Net loans fell to $3.28 billion, down by 26.38%. Cash and balances with Central Banks totaled $10.39 billion, up by 4.82%. On the liabilities side, customers’ deposits reached $15.95 billion, down by 7.43%. As to shareholders’ equity, it stood at $1.63 billion, down by 1.99%.
Worth mentioning that Byblos Bank recorded in 2019 a total of $ 121.554 million in net losses for the first time since its inception around 60 years ago. These losses were mainly attributed to the allocation of collective provisions for the Bank’s expected credit losses on its portfolio of Lebanese Eurobonds; on its foreign-currency placements with the Central Bank of Lebanon; and on its customer loan portfolio.