Home » LEBANON BRIEF » Publication April 2017
According to the Lebanese Customs, trade activity at Lebanon’s main customs offices improved by February 2017, compared to the same period last year. This was mostly the result of rising volumes of total ... read more
The consolidated financial statements of Bank Audi, in the first quarter of 2017, witnessed a marginal yearly rise of 0.02% in profits to $110.20M, of which 23% from Odea Bank and 10% from Bank Audi Egypt. ... read more
As per its latest unaudited financial statements, Bank of Beirut (BoB) recognized a yearly 14.77% rise in its net income by Q1 2017 to stand at $50.24M. BoB saw its net interest income improve by 17.03% ... read more
The consolidated financial statements of Byblos Bank revealed a 14.87% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in profits to $28.74M in the first quarter of 2017 (Q1 2017). The drop in profits is mainly attributed to ... read more
According to the Orders of Engineers in Beirut and Tripoli, the number of construction permits dropped by a yearly 2.71% to stand at 4,165 permits in Q1 of 2017. The Construction Area Authorized by Permits ... read more
The World Economic Forum’s 2017 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report entailed the Travel and Tourism (T&T) Competitiveness Index, which ranked the tourism sectors of 136 countries according to 4 ... read more
By the end of 2016, cement deliveries recorded a yearly uptick of 2.64%, to stand at 5.27M tons compared to 5.13M tons by Dec. 2015. This rise parallels the recovery recorded in the construction activity ... read more
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Industry, the value of total industrial exports fell from $2,956M by December 2015 to $2,527M by end 2016. On a monthly basis, the main exported products in Dec.2016 ... read more
In compliance with the Central Bank’s circular #411, which cancels bearer shares in Lebanon, HOLCIM issued a statement regarding its own bearer shares. HOLCIM announced that during an Extraordinary General ... read more
According to the balance sheet of the Lebanese Central Bank (BDL), total assets slipped by 0.18% year to date (y-t-d) to $102.14B in mid- April 2017. In details, Foreign Assets (constituting 38.93% of ... read more
According to the Association of Lebanese Car Importers (AIA), the total number of newly registered commercial and passenger cars slightly improved during the first quarter of 2017 by 2.04% year-on-year ... read more
According to the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL), the value of cleared checks in the first three months of 2017 rose by an annual 1.28% to reach $17.1B, while the total number of cleared checks of ... read more
The board of directors of Bank of Beirut (BoB) invites its shareholders to a general assembly at the bank’s headquarters located in Foch Street, downtown Beirut. The meeting will take place on the 5th of ... read more
Lebanon’s trade deficit stood at $2.79B by February 2017, widening from the $2.46B registered by the same period last year. Total imports grew by 13.27% year-on-year (y-o-y) to $3.25B, while exports rose ... read more
According to the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL), the Lebanese gross public debt stood at $76.13B in February 2017, a 6.91% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase, and a 0.05% downtick from January’s balance. ... read more
During Bank AUDI’s Annual Ordinary General Assembly convened on April 10, 2017, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Raymond Audi, declared his resignation, and the board elected Mr. Samir N. Hanna ... read more
According to Global Blue, tourist spending in Lebanon rose by a yearly 8% in Q1 2017, compared to Q1 2016. This increase is mainly attributed to the relatively higher spending by GCC nationals in the first ... read more
Activity at the Port of Beirut (PoB) dropped in the first Quarter (Q1) of 2017 as the port’s revenues recorded a yearly decrease of 2.88% to $55.32M. Nonetheless, total container activity including ... read more
The consolidated balance sheet of Lebanon’s commercial banks revealed a progress in total assets from February 2016’s level of $186.6B to $204.9B in February 2017, reflecting a 10% year-on-year (y-o-y) ... read more
The recently released balance sheet of Bdl revealed substantial interim drops in the levels of foreign assets and securities’ portfolio, between mid-March and the end of March. The decline in foreign ... read more
During the first 2 months of 2017, real estate activity witnessed a retreating performance as the total number of real estate transactions decreased by 2.0% y-o-y to reach 12,092. Also, the total value of ... read more
According to the Central Bank of Lebanon, Lebanon’s Balance of Payments (BoP) witnessed, for the first time in 3 years, a surplus of $508.5M by February 2017 as compared to the $356.3M deficit recorded ... read more
According to Bank Audi’s recently released statement, the Lebanese bank agreed to sell its business in terms of electronic payment and card services to M1 Financial Technologies, a subsidiary of M1 Group, ... read more
Byblos Bank’s board of directors invites its preferred shares holders to the annual general assembly meeting set to take place at the bank’s headquarters in Achrafieh on the 28th of April 2017 at 11:00 am. ... read more
According to the Ministry of Tourism, the number of tourists visiting Lebanon, in the first two months of 2017, displayed a 12.25% year-on-year (y-o-y) progress, where the total number of tourists went up ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market Demand for the dollar remained stable on the Lebanese Forex market with the value of the Lebanese Pound trading within the range of $/LP 1,514 – 1,514. 5 with a mid-price of $/LP ... read more
The Lebanese bourse witnessed a slight improvement this week as revealed by the BLOM Stock Index (BSI) that increased by 0.28% to end the week at 1,173.31 points. During the same period, the average traded ... read more
During the week ending April 13th, Broad Money M3 increased by a weekly LBP 343B ($228M) to reach LBP 202,588B ($134.39B). Moreover, M3 recorded a 7.71% annual increase and a 1.78% rise since the start of ... read more
27/04/2017 20/04/2017 Change Year to Date BLOM Bond Index (BBI)* 106.49 106.66 -0.16% 4.51% Weighted Yield** 5.75% 5.71% 0.61% -14% Weighted Spread*** 421 420 0.24% -19% 27/04/2017 20/04/2017 Weekly ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market Demand for the dollar slightly rose on the Lebanese Forex market with the value of the Lebanese Pound trading within the range of $/LP 1,514 – 1,514. 5 with a mid-price of $/LP ... read more
During the week ending March 30th, Broad Money M3 increased by a weekly LBP 304B ($202M) to reach LBP 202,290B ($134.19B). Moreover, M3 recorded a 7.80% annual increase and a 1.63% rise since the start of ... read more
The BLOM Stock Index (BSI), tracking the performance of the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE), fell by 4.86% over the period 7-21 April 2017 to reach 1,170.00 points. During the same period, the average traded ... read more
The BLOM Bond Index (BBI) increased by 0.03% over the period ranging from 6 to 20 April 2017 and settled at 106.66 points. The Lebanese index was outpaced by the JP Morgan Emerging Markets’ Bond Index ... read more
The Lebanese bourse witnessed a downturn this week as revealed by the BLOM Stock Index (BSI) that decreased by 0.49% to end the week at 1,229.82 points. This was also reflected by the $51.70M weekly ... read more
Lebanese Forex Market Demand for the dollar slightly fell 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 mid-price of $/LP ... read more
During the week ending March 23rd, Broad Money M3 increased by a weekly LBP 55B ($37M) to reach LBP 201,986B ($134B). Moreover, M3 recorded a 7.84% annual increase and a 1.48% rise since the start of the ... read more
Another weekly improvement was depicted on the Lebanese Eurobonds’ market as revealed by the BLOM Bond Index (BBI) that increased by 0.66% to 106.63 points. It was also able to beat the JP Morgan Emerging ... read more
Contraction in the private sector’s economy accelerated in March as the BLOM PMI declined to 46.9 points. The index remained below the neutral mark of 50, separating economic contraction from growth, for ... read more
A recent report by the UNDP, entitled “Mind the Gap, A Labor Needs Assessment for Lebanon” takes a closer look at the Lebanese labor market broadly and in the sectors of Agro-food, Construction and ... read more
Business Monitor International (BMI) recently released a report on Lebanon’s Food and Beverages (F&B) sector where the research firm reveals its forecasts for the period 2017 -2021. BMI believes that ... read more
According to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), Lebanon’s real GDP growth reached its lowest since 2011. Real GDP growth continued its decline reaching 0.8% in 2015, after a real growth of ... read more