Bank Audi’s profits surge 10 pct in 1Q


BEIRUT: Bank Audi, one the two largest banks in the country, announced Thursday that its net profits in the first three months of 2016 has reached $110 million, an increase of 10.1 percent compared to the same period of 2015.

But what is more important is that 54 percent of these profits came from the bank’s entities outside Lebanon.

“Bank Audi’s consolidated net earnings after provisions and taxes reached $110 million in the first quarter of 2016, as compared to $100 million in the corresponding period of 2015, growing by 10.1 percent,” the bank said in a statement.

It added that the contribution of the entities outside Lebanon to consolidated net earnings increased from 52 percent in the first quarter of 2015 to 54 percent in the same period of 2016.

“Based on such results, the bank’s return on average assets ratio improved from 0.96 percent in 2015 to 1.06 percent in the first quarter of 2016, while the return on average common equity improved from 13.63 percent in 2015 to 14.3 percent in the first quarter of 2016, a level in line with the average of peer banks in the region and in line with the group’s weighted average cost of equity,” the statement said.

It added that the bank’s common earnings per share rose to $0.96 on an annualized basis, while its common book value per share increased to $7.35 at end-March 2016.

But Audi acknowledged that total assets in the first quarter of 2015 slightly fell. “Consolidated assets of Bank Audi registered a contraction of 3 percent in the first quarter of 2016, corresponding to a decrease of $1.2 billion. This was achieved within the context of a devaluation of the Egyptian pound against the U.S. dollar by 13.4 percent over the same period, impacting negatively consolidated assets by $433 million,” the statement added.

As a result, total assets of the bank in the first three months of this year stood at $41 billion, and $61 billion when accounting for off-balance sheet accounts, of which 58.2 percent from entities outside Lebanon.

Consolidated customers’ deposits amounted to $34.2 million at end-March 2016, of which 43.6 percent from entities outside Lebanon.

The daily Star Contribution Time: 22-Apr-2016 22:11 (GMT)
The daily Star Last Update Time: 22-Apr-2016 22:11 (GMT)