Byblos Bank released its unaudited financial statements for the year 2021, revealing a net loss of $17.86 million, compared to a net loss of $103.77 million in 2020. In fact, the Bank’s net interest income soared by 32.47% y-o-y to $728.06 million, while net commission & fee income dropped by 42.19% to $49.02 million. The increase in net interest income owes to the sizeable decrease in the cost of funds as banks lowered interest rates paid on customer deposits to near zero levels mainly on foreign currency deposits to cope with the shy revenue streams after the government’s decision to suspend payments on Eurobonds in March 2020 and the hampered confidence in the economy which followed suit, resulting in limited capital flows to the country and particularly its banking sector. In parallel, Byblos Bank registered net losses on its financial assets’ portfolio (including trading losses and other operating income) of $1,011.81 million compared to net gains of $211.99 million in 2020. The loss on financial instruments mainly owes to some $984.70 million in net loss on financial assets at Fair Value Through Profit or Loss (FVTPL). On the other hand, the Bank wrote-back provisions on financial assets, booking some $538 million in provision write-backs, compared to net impairment charges of around $705 million in 2020. Consequently, net operating income increased by 114.17% y-o-y to $303.10 million. On the other hand, the Bank’s operating expenses remained almost flat at $210.38 million coupled with more than a four folds increase in provisions for risks and charges to $41.10 million. On the balance sheet front, Byblos Bank’s consolidated assets fell by 8.10% in 2021 to circa $17.24 billion as net loans & advances decreased by 28.27% to $1.87 billion, which outweighed the 1.20% increase in cash and balances with Central Banks to $10.34 billion. In addition, the Bank’s financial assets held at FVTPL soared by 268.50% in 2021 to $161.92 million, with those booked at fair value through other comprehensive income remaining almost unchanged at $106.33 million while financial assets held at amortized cost decreased by 17.78% to $3.17 billion. In tandem with the market, customer deposits at Byblos Bank dropped by 11.37% in 2021 to just above $13.18 billion. In this context, the Bank’s ratio of net loans-to-customer deposits settled lower at 14.21% at end of 2021 compared to 17.56% at end of 2020, with shareholder’s equity ending the year 16.18% higher at $1.81 billion mainly owing to some $270 million cash contribution to capital.