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 273.94 billion to just below SYP 175.80 billion ($58.31 million) YTD September 2022, down from around SYP 449.74 billion ($179.18 million) in the same period in 2021. This owes to the 59.50% decrease in unrealized structural FX revaluation gains to SYP 174.79 billion ($57.97 million) outweighing the 57.60% increase in net interest income to SYP 77.33 billion ($25.65 million) and the 24.97% rise in net fee & commission income to SYP 62.63 billion ($20.77 million) which altogether dragged operating income down by 40.17% to just below SYP 331.00 billion ($109.78 million). On the other hand, operating expenses saw a sharp 49.69% annual increase YTD-September 2022 to SYP 147.66 billion ($48.98 million). It is worth noting that profitability, when measured in US Dollar, show a 67.46% annual contraction YTD September 2022 on the back of the significant devaluation of the Syrian Pound against the US Dollar from SYP 2,510 per USD in September-2021 to SYP 3,015 per USD as at end of September-2022. Bank BEMO Saudi Fransi recorded the highest profit figure ($19.13 million), followed by Syria Gulf Bank ($9.65 million), Byblos Bank Syria ($9.29 million), Fransabank Syria ($8.49 million), Bank of Syria & Overseas ($6.98 million), and Sharq Bank ($4.76 million).

On the balance sheet front, the combined assets of Lebanese banks’ Syrian subsidiaries widened by 20.28% in the first nine months of 2022 to SYP 4,458.46 billion ($1.48 billion). The share of Bank BEMO Saudi Fransi of the combined assets of the six banks stood at 42.35%, that of Syria Gulf Bank reached 21.34%, Bank of Syria & Overseas’ share leveled at 12.60%, the share of Fransabank Syria reached 10.80%, that of Byblos Bank Syria neared 8.01% and the share of Sharq Bank stood at 4.90%. The combined net loans portfolio of the aforementioned banks rose by 25.16% YTD-September 2022 to SYP 907.89 billion ($301.13 million), while their combined customer deposits rose by 25.32% to SYP 2,820.23 billion ($935.40 million). On the capitalization front, the combined equity of all six banks widened by 22.09% to SYP 985.36 billion ($326.82 million) YTD-September 2022.