BLOM Bank posted a 2.51% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in its net profit to $269.31M by end of September 2014, leading to a 15.26% return on average equity. This can mainly be attributed to the 5.17% and 13.30% yearly growth of net interest income and net fees and commission income that stood at $4.18M and $101.63M, respectively by the end of the third quarter. However, total operating expenses augmented by 6.90% to $243.82M. Worth mentioning, BLOM’s foreign subsidiaries contributed substantially to the growth in profits. On the balance sheet, total assets recorded a 5.17% year-to-date (y-t-d) expansion to $27.50B, with net loans and advances to customers surging by 9.84% to $6.95B, by September 2014. On the liabilities side, customers’ deposits at amortized cost increased by 4.96% y-t-d to reach $23.58B end of September. Similarly, total shareholders’ equity edged up by 6.82% y-t-d to reach $2.51B. Worth noting, that BLOM Bank achieved a 39.22% cost-to-income ratio, which is the lowest among the listed banks. Moreover, Basel III capital adequacy ratio reached 17.5%. These financial indicators confirm the leading international financial institutions’ choice in awarding BLOM Bank “Best Bank in Lebanon for 2014”.