Bank Audi

The Lebanon-based Bank Audi, also known as the Audi Saradar Group, provides commercial banking services, including corporate and retail banking, in addition to private banking, investment banking, insurance, brokerage and investment services, directly and through subsidiaries.

Bank Audi was ranked the largest commercial bank in Lebanon, in terms of total assets, deposits, loans and advances and shareholders’ equity and the second largest in terms of net profit, in 2008. The group operated 78 licensed branches and 158 ATM’s in Lebanon and had over 30 subsidiaries in Lebanon, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, as of June 2009. The group has eleven branches in Jordan, a subsidiary in Sudan and a representative office in the UAE, as of August 2010.

The bank’s activities are divided into two segments; commercial banking and treasury and capital markets segments. The group’s core activity, which is commercial banking and includes retail and corporate banking, represented 70% of the group’s total operating income in 2008, up from 57.3% in 2007. The treasury and capital markets divisions’ contribution to operating income decreased, in 2008, to 30% from 43%, in 2007.

Through its subsidiaries, Bank Audi (Switzerland) and Audi Saradar Private BankAudi Saradar Private Bank (Lebanon), the group offers private banking to high net worth clients. The group’s investment banking arm, the Audi Saradar Investment BankAudi Saradar Investment Bank, is active in capital markets and also invests in insurance companies and financial institutions, on behalf of the group. The group provides bancassurance products through its subsidiary, Libano Arabe Insurance.

Bank Audi has been expanding its activities beyond Lebanon. The bank’s total operating income from its international activities increased in 2008 by 42% to reach LBP348.84 billion (USD237 million). Audi generated 64% of its 2008 operating income from domestic operations, while the remaining 36% came from international operations. This is compared to a 70% contribution, in 2007, against 30% for international business.

The bank dates back to 1830, when the family-owned operation began as a monetary exchange. In 1962, the bank was incorporated and became the foundation for the conglomerate known as Bank Audi. Listed on the Beirut Stock Exchange since 1983, it listed its GDR issues on the London Stock Exchange, in 1990, and followed by a capital increase, in 2001, due to a merger with Lebanon Invest. In a deal worth USD159 million, Bank Audi acquired Banque Saradar in June 2004, which grew Audi’s domestic and regional position.