BLC Bank published its audited financial statements for the year 2021, revealing a net loss of $127.37 million, compared to a smaller loss of $18.18 million in 2020. In details, the bank’s net interest income rose by 31.69% in 2021 to $116.83 million, while net commission & fee income settled 0.13% lower at $23.55 million. The bank registered some $156.25 million in net loss on financial instruments & other operating income, compared to a smaller loss of $31.54 million in 2020. More specifically, the bank booked a sizeable net interest and other loss on investment securities at Fair Value Through Profit or Loss (FVTPL) of $122.07 million, coupled with a loss of $9.63 million on the derecognition of financial assets measured at amortized cost and other operating expense of $24.48 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 particularly on foreign currency deposits not to mention the large contraction in customer deposits during the concerned period. It is worth noting that BLC Bank recorded some $39.40 million in allowance for expected credit losses in 2021, compared to $35.40 million in 2020. Consequently, the bank registered a loss of $55.10 million after impairment, a figure which increases to $127.37 million when taking into consideration operating expenses of $58.54 million. On the balance sheet front, BLC Bank’s total assets contracted by 10.98% in 2021 to around $3.50 billion, down from $3.93 billion in 2020. This owes to the 28.41% ($258.77 million) drop in net loans and advances to just above $652 million. Cash and balances with Central Banks, on the other hand, rose by 7.41% ($110.01 million) to $1.59 billion. The bank’s investment securities held at FVTPL increased by circa five folds in 2021 to $35.64 million, while those booked at fair value through other comprehensive income (FVTOCI) contracted by 63.43% to $12.47 million and those held at amortized cost decreased by 20.10% to $1.02 billion. On the funding side, customer deposits at BLC Bank fell by 8.89% ($273.41 million) to $2.80 billion. In this vein, the ratio of net loans to customer deposits receded to 23.28% at end of 2021 down from 29.62% at end of year 2020, with shareholders’ equity dropping by 16.16% ($82.39 million) to $427.57 million.