Blom Bank posts 6.3% increase in revenue

Blom Bank, a Beirut-based bank with offices in 12 countries, said profit for the first nine months of 2009 rose 3.5 per cent as deposits increased.

Net profit increased to $205 million (Dh752.3m) from $198 million a year earlier, the bank said in an e-mailed statement.

Revenue grew 6.3 per cent to $983.5 million.

"The bank recorded the highest returns among listed banks in terms of the rate of return on average assets and equity of common stocks," Blom said.

"The former stands at 1.43 per cent and the latter at 20.1 per cent."

Blom, which said the results made it the largest Lebanese lender by earnings, added that the bank's low cost-to-income ratio of 40 per cent contributed to earnings. Deposits grew 16 per cent to $17.5 billion.

Loans advanced seven per cent to $3.8bn and total assets increased 14 per cent to $20.25bn.

Blom said it launched its Qatari operation last week, in addition to Saudi Arabia, thereby completing its presence in 12 countries throughout Europe, the Gulf and the Middle East.

Blom Bank Group has offices in Lebanon, Syria, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Egypt, the UAE, Jordan, Romania, Cyprus and Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, Lebanon's Bank Audi said its net profit for the first nine months of the year rose 17.8 per cent to $212.8m compared to the same period a year ago.

It said customer deposits grew 23.8 per cent to $21.3bn compared to the end of 2008, while total assets grew 20.9 per cent to $24.7bn in the same period.

Audi said almost all financial sector indicators registered exceptional growth in first nine months of 2009 relative to last year's period, confirming Lebanon's resilience in the face of the global economic turmoil.

"In parallel, the economic and financial environment in the Middle East and North Africa, where Bank Audi has a wide presence, contributed to the achievement of a better performance.

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