The combined listed Lebanese banks, namely Bank Audi, BLOM Bank, Byblos Bank, Bank of Beirut, Banque BEMO, and BLC Bank registered a combined net after-tax loss of $770.36 million in the year 2019, compared to a net after-tax profit of $1,442.89 million in 2018. This comes on the back of the downturn in economic activity which led to massive protests and street closures in the last quarter of the year resulting in the resignation of the government and the decision of the successing government to suspend the payments of Eurobonds in early 2020. Consequently, banks were compelled to constitute significant provisions on expected credit losses which backfired on their 2019 profitability. More specifically, the aggregate net interest income of all six banks shed 0.56% y-o-y to $2,735.20 million, accompanied by a 5.45% drop in net fee & commission income to $546.00 million, not to mention the 69.13% contraction in net gains on financial instruments & other operating income to $89.35 million. Concurrently, the six banks allocated an aggregate amount of some $2,424.68 million in provisions on expected losses in 2019 resulting in a 71.25% y-o-y drop in their combined net operating income to $982.55 million. This drop, however, was somewhat diluted by an 8.82% contraction in total operating expenses to $1,500.36 million. BLOM Bank was the only listed bank to record net profit in 2019 ($115.41 million). On the balance sheet front, the combined assets of listed Lebanese banks narrowed by 13.02% in 2019 to $117.20 billion, down from $134.74 billion as at end of year 2018, with Bank Audi controlling 33.73% of the combined assets of all six banks, BLOM Bank amassing a share of 28.41%, Byblos Bank detaining 18.70%, the share of Bank of Beirut reaching 13.91%, that of BLC Bank reaching 3.80%, and Banque BEMO’s stake standing at 1.45%. This contraction in listed banks’ combined assets owes primarily to the 19.01% drop in loans & advances to $27.51 billion, coupled with the 2.76% decrease in cash & placements with Central Banks to $54.03 billion. In fact, all six banks witnessed a drop in their lending portfolios as some clients opted to prepay their loans using their deposits at banks in fear of a haircut or devaluation of the currency. On the funding side of the balance sheet, the combined deposits of all six banks fell by 6.06% in 2019 to $90.15 billion, resulting in a drop of the combined ratio of net loans to customer deposits to 30.52%, from 35.40% at year-end 2018. On the capitalization front, the combined equity of all six listed banks plunged by 17.85% in 2019 to about $10.02 billion in spite the completion of the first round of 10% capital increase through cash contribution to capital by some banks.