Beirut, June 13, 2011: Bank Audi sal - Audi Saradar Group was granted the "Best Bank in Lebanon" award at the 2011 Euromoney Awards for Excellence Middle East ceremony. The gala dinner, which took place on June 8, 2011 at the Madinat Jumeirah Conference Center - Dubai, was hosted by Euromoney and attended by some 200 prominent guests comprising top executives of regional banks and financial institutions. This prestigious recognition, one of a long series of awards acknowledging the Bank's leadership in the domestic market, makes Bank Audi the most awarded Lebanese bank by Euromoney as "Best Bank in Lebanon" since 1996.
In recognising Bank Audi for the award of "Best Bank in Lebanon", Euromoney editor Clive Horwood highlighted that "Competition between banks in Lebanon continues to be robust and healthy, but during the 12 months, Bank Audi consolidated its lead in terms of the ultimate measure of success for many private sector banks: net profit, with an impressive 21.9%. The Bank can also point to an increasing international business as one of its many major strengths."
H.E. Mr. Raymond Audi, Chairman and General Manager of Bank Audi sal - Audi Saradar Group, commented: "This renewed acknowledgement of Bank Audi's achievements on behalf of such a world-renowned institution like Euromoney comes within the continuous diversification and development efforts of the Bank which was able to further reinforce its domestic lead, along with boosting its regional positioning among top Arab banks. We believe we owe this recognition to all our stakeholders, and particularly our colleagues known for their dedication and professionalism, and their permanent support of our corporate objectives. The exemplary attitude of our staff represents an undeniable proof of the Bank's capacity to address all challenges and move steadily towards meeting our strategic objectives over the years ahead."
Euromoney Magazine has been the voice of international capital markets for over 40 years, offering unique coverage of the global equity, bond and foreign exchange markets. Its annual Awards for Excellence program has been running for 21 years and forms a benchmark for financial institutions featuring high-quality products and services across all areas of Commercial and Investment banking. The selection of Best Bank Awards is based on quantitative and qualitative criteria over the 12-month period.
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Bank Audi is a universal bank operating principally in Lebanon and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and offering a full range of products and services that cover Commercial and Corporate Banking, Retail and Individual Banking, On-line Brokerage, Private Banking and Investment Banking, as well as Insurance activities through its subsidiary, LIA insurance sal. As at end-March 2011, Bank Audi ranked first among Lebanese banks in terms of total assets, shareholders' equity, customers' deposits, loans and advances, and profits. As a result of a significant regional expansion course undertaken over the past 5 years, Bank Audi now ranks fourth among the 15 largest Arab banking institutions by assets in terms of regional coverage, with operations in 11 countries (Lebanon, France, Switzerland, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Monaco and Gibraltar). On a consolidated basis, the Group operates a network of 157 branches spread principally in the MENA region, of which the largest branch network in Lebanon with 80 branches. At present, given the recent developments in several countries of the MENA region, Management's top priority is to consolidate the Bank's franchise in all markets of presence. Nonetheless, as soon as the situation settles down and the outlook becomes clearer, the Bank intends to continue its program of overseas expansion in the aim of further expanding its customer and account franchise to new value-added regional markets.
© Press Release 2011
