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 fell by around SYP 263.80 billion to just above SYP 107.55 billion ($38.22 million) YTD June 2022, down from around SYP 371.35 billion ($147.95 million) in the same period in 2021. This owes to the 70.40% decrease in unrealized structural FX revaluation gains to SYP 97.54 billion ($34.66 million) outweighing the 105.48% increase in net interest income to SYP 49.69 billion ($17.66 million) and the 23.11% rise in net fee & commission income to SYP 42.69 billion ($15.17 million) which altogether dragged operating income down by 52.73% to SYP 206.50 billion ($73.38 million). On the other hand, operating expenses saw a sharp 50.04% annual increase YTD-June 2022 to SYP 92.97 billion ($33.04 million). It is worth noting that profitability, when measured in US Dollar, show a 74.17% annual contraction in H1-2022 on the back of the significant devaluation of the Syrian Pound against the US Dollar from SYP 2,510 per USD in June-2021 to SYP 2,814 per USD as at end of June-2022. Bank BEMO Saudi Fransi recorded the highest profit figure ($13.86 million), followed by Byblos Bank Syria ($5.71 million), Fransabank Syria ($5.51 million), Bank of Syria & Overseas ($5.31 million), Syria Gulf Bank ($4.90 million), and Sharq Bank ($2.94 million).

On the balance sheet front, the combined assets of Lebanese banks’ Syrian subsidiaries widened by 14.52% in the first half of 2022 to SYP 4,245.04 billion ($1.51 billion). The share of Bank BEMO Saudi Fransi of the combined assets of the six banks stood at 38.65%, that of Syria Gulf Bank reached 23.76%, Bank of Syria & Overseas’ share leveled at 12.65%, the share of Fransabank Syria reached 11.53%, that of Byblos Bank Syria neared 8.13% and the share of Sharq Bank stood at 5.28%. The combined net loans portfolio of the aforementioned banks rose by 21.60% YTD-June 2022 to SYP 882.08 billion ($313.46 million), while their combined customer deposits rose by 19.06% to SYP 2,679.21 billion ($952.10 million). On the capitalization front, the combined equity of all six banks widened by 13.27% to SYP 914.23 billion ($324.89 million) YTD-June 2022.