Byblos Bank published last week its un-audited financial results for end March 2023. As expected, the results were impacted by the current crisis affecting the Lebanese economy and financial markets. Based on the new official exchange rate of 15,000 LBP per 1 USD effective February 1, 2023, instead of the prior 1,507 LBP, the Bank incurred losses in Q1 2023 that amounted to $8.8 million against losses of $43.5 million in Q1 2022. In addition, total operating income stood at $34.9 million, compared to $54.1 million in Q1 2022; while net impairment on financial assets reached $2.1 million against $6.7 million in Q1 2022. As a result, net operating income totaled $32.8 million relative to $47.4 million in Q1 2022. It is interesting to note that the Bank took, additionally, provisions against risk and charges that reached $8.2 million compared to $11.8 million in Q1 2022.
In terms of the balance sheet, total assets stood at $12.2 billion, less by 31.5% than assets at end December 2022. Likewise, loans to customers were $0.69 billion, down by 49.1%; customers’ deposits stood at $10.3 billion, lower by 17.1%; and shareholders’ equity amounted to $0.9 billion, down by 70.1%. As a result, the loans to deposits ratio fell from 14.2% to 6.7% as loans fell faster than deposits in Q1 2023.
Byblos Bank Financials:
| USD ‘000 | 31-Mar-22 | 31-Mar-23 | |||||
| Loans to Customers | 1,792,604 | 698,523 | |||||
| Customers’ Deposits | 13,104,578 | 10,298,049 | |||||
| Total Equity | 1,722,529 | 912,705 | |||||
| Total Asset | 17,075,399 | 12,194,327 | |||||
| Net Income | (43,544) | (8,809) | |||||
| Loans / Deposits ratio | 13.68% | 6.7% |