The combined net after tax profit of Lebanese banks’ Syrian subsidiaries, namely Bank of Syria & Overseas, Byblos Bank Syria, Bank BEMO Saudi Fransi, Sharq Bank, Syria Gulf Bank and Fransabank Syria rose by around SYP 137.64 billion year-on-year to just below SYP 371.35 billion ($147.95 million) YTD June 2021, up from around SYP 233.70 billion ($444.04 million) in the same period in 2020. This owes to the 53.18% increase in unrealized structural FX revaluation gains to SYP 347.35 billion ($138.39 million), coupled with a 76.17% hike in net interest income to SYP 26.07 billion ($10.39 million) and more than a five-fold increase in net commission & fee income to SYP 33.01 billion ($13.15 million) which altogether lifted operating income by 68.85% to SYP 436.83 billion ($174.04 million). It is worth noting that the structural FX gains owe to the significant devaluation of the Syrian Pound against the US dollar over the studied period (as per the footnote at the bottom of the table below). On the other hand, operating expenses saw a sharp 153.79% annual increase to SYP 61.97 billion ($24.69 million). Byblos Bank Syria recorded the highest profit figure ($31.65 million), followed by Fransabank Syria ($29.83 million), Bank BEMO Saudi Fransi ($27.30 million), Bank of Syria & Overseas ($23.60 million), Syria Gulf Bank ($20.92 million), and Sharq Bank ($14.64 million).

On the balance sheet front, the combined assets of Lebanese banks’ Syrian subsidiaries widened by 73.37% during the first half of 2021 to SYP 3,097.30 billion ($1.23 billion). The share of Bank BEMO Saudi Fransi of the combined assets of the six banks stood at 35.53%, that of Syria Gulf Bank being 16.38%, Bank of Syria & Overseas amassing a share of 15.86%, Fransabank Syria controlling a stake of 14.95%, the share of Byblos Bank Syria reaching 9.42% and the share of Sharq Bank settling at 7.86%. The combined net loans portfolio of the aforementioned banks soared by 85.81% during the first six months of 2021 to SYP 521.63 billion ($207.82 million), while their combined customer deposits rose by 63.00% to SYP 1,907.17 billion ($759.83 million). On the capitalization front, the combined equity of all six banks more than doubled YTD June 2021 to SYP 724.55 billion ($288.67 million).