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 217.85 billion year-on-year to just above SYP 449.74 billion ($179.18 million) YTD September 2021, up from around SYP 231.89 billion ($184.62 million) in the same period in 2020. This owes to the 90.57% increase in unrealized structural FX revaluation gains to SYP 386.58 billion ($154.01 million), coupled with a 123.67% hike in net interest income to SYP 49.07 billion ($19.55 million) and a circa three-fold increase in net commission & fee income to SYP 48.89 billion ($19.48 million) which altogether lifted operating income by 100.92% to SYP 553.21 billion ($220.40 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 129.49% annual increase to SYP 98.64 billion ($39.30 million). Bank BEMO Saudi Fransi recorded the highest profit figure ($56.54 million), followed by Byblos Bank Syria ($31.51 million), Fransabank Syria ($29.96 million), Bank of Syria & Overseas ($23.68 million), Syria Gulf Bank ($22.56 million), and Sharq Bank ($14.94 million).

On the balance sheet front, the combined assets of Lebanese banks’ Syrian subsidiaries widened by 100.77% during the first nine months of 2021 to SYP 3,586.80 billion ($1.43 billion). The share of Bank BEMO Saudi Fransi of the combined assets of the six banks stood at 41.10%, that of Syria Gulf Bank reached 18.26%, Bank of Syria & Overseas’ share leveled at 13.08%, the share of Fransabank Syria reached 12.46%, that of Byblos Bank Syria neared 8.39% and the share of Sharq Bank approached 6.71%. The combined net loans portfolio of the aforementioned banks soared by 134.91% during the first nine months of 2021 to SYP 659.46 billion ($262.73 million), while their combined customer deposits rose by 86.84% to SYP 2,186.18 billion ($870.99 million). On the capitalization front, the combined equity of all six banks more than doubled YTD September 2021 to SYP 825.61 billion ($328.93 million).