BLOM Bank announced today its unaudited financial results for the first half of 2016. Despite the difficult operating conditions domestically and regionally, BLOM Bank was not deterred from performing at its customary best. Net profit increased to $226.678 million in the first six months of 2016, higher by 19.08% from the same period in 2015. And this rise in net profit was due largely to higher profits achieved at the Bank's foreign subsidiaries. Equally noteworthy were the Bank's rates of return on average equity (ROAE) and on average assets (ROAA), for ROAE reached 16.62% and ROAA 1.55%, both the highest among listed Lebanese banks.
The bank's strong growth in profitability was also paralleled by steady and balanced growth in its balance sheet aggregates. Assets rose to $29.502 billion at end of June 2016, up by 3.09% from the same period in 2015; customers' deposits increased to $25.413 billion, higher by 2.66%; private loans rose to $7.353 billion, up by 4.73%; and shareholders' equity increased to $2.720, higher by 7.27%.
It is also a sign of BLOM Bank's strong managerial efficiency and financial standing that these growth and profitability figures were attained while maintaining sound qualitative indicators. These were reflected in the Bank's cost-to-income ratio that stood at 35.88%, the lowest among listed banks; and in the Bank's notable capital adequacy ratio that reached 18%, against a required ratio of 12%; in addition to the Bank's solid ratios of primary liquidity 65% and coverage of non-performing loans (by specific and collectives provisions and real guarantees) reaching 151%. So, once again, BLOM Bank's financial results show the success and flexibility of its conservative policy and expansion strategy in dealing with the troubled economic and political environment still engulfing Lebanon and the region.
© Press Release 2016
