Byblos Bank released its unaudited financial statements for the first quarter of 2022, revealing a net loss of $43.54 million, compared to a net profit of $0.88 million in Q1-2021. In fact, the Bank’s net interest income increased by 3.95% y-o-y to $184.81 million, while the bank registered a net commission & fee loss of $43.38 million compared to a positive figure of $16.53 million in the same period in 2021. 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 $87.33 million compared to a smaller figure of $10.41 million in Q1-2021. The loss on financial instruments mainly owes to some $80.54 million in net loss on financial assets at Fair Value Through Profit or Loss (FVTPL). On the other hand, the Bank registered some $6.72 million in net impairment charges in Q1-2022 in comparison with a much larger figure of $105.46 million in Q1-2021. Consequently, net operating income fell by 39.61% y-o-y to $47.38 million. In addition, the Bank’s operating expenses increased by 42.53% to $74.71 million as most banks had to accommodate for the frantic depreciation of the Pound to meet fresh dollar fixed & running costs namely owed to foreign operators in the form of licenses, software maintenance, only to name a few, and was accompanied by more than a four folds increase in provisions for risks and charges to $11.85 million. On the balance sheet front, Byblos Bank’s consolidated assets narrowed by 0.95% in Q1-2022 to circa $17.08 billion as net loans & advances decreased by 4.42% to $1.79 billion coupled with a 0.40% drop in cash and balances with Central Banks to $10.30 billion. In addition, the Bank’s financial assets held at FVTPL increased by 2.28% in Q1-2022 to $165.63 million, with those booked at fair value through other comprehensive income rising by 1.50% to $107.92 million while financial assets held at amortized cost decreased by 0.65% to $3.15 billion. Customer deposits at Byblos Bank extended their downturn, dropping by 0.68% in Q1-2022 to just above $13.10 billion. In this context, the Bank’s ratio of net loans-to-customer deposits settled lower at 13.68% at end of Q1-2022 compared to 14.21% a quarter earlier, with shareholder’s equity ending the first quarter of 2022 2.60% lower at $1.72 billion.