Bank Audi published its unaudited financial results for the first nine months 2023 reporting a net profit of LBP 804.50 billion ($53.63 million when converted to local dollars using the official exchange rate of LBP 15,000 per USD) compared to a net profit of LBP 615.95 billion ($408.59 million when converted to local dollars using the previous official exchange rate of LBP 1,507.5 per USD) in the same period in 2022. The sharp increase in most balance sheet and income statement figures when reported in LBP owes to the adoption of the new official exchange rate of LBP 15,000 per USD starting the month of February in lieu of the LBP 1,507.5 per USD previous official exchange rate. In details, net interest income stood at LBP 4,953.73 billion YTD September 2023 while net commission & fee income reached LBP 1,904.73 billion. The bank registered net gains on financial instruments & other operating income of LBP 3,103.91 billion (of which some LBP 2,466.75 billion stem from trading activities). On the other hand, the bank booked some LBP 1,682.90 billion in net impairment losses (as the bank allocated most of its operating income to extinguish one-off losses related to the crisis) on financial assets compared to some LBP 263.73 billion in net write-backs in the same period in 2022. Consequently, Bank Audi registered a net operating income of LBP 8,279.47 billion YTD September 2023. Concurrently, operating expenses increased markedly when comparing figures in LBP-equivalent to read LBP 7,132.48 billion, with personnel expenses reaching LBP 2,180.30 billion and other operating expenses increasing by almost eleven folds to LBP 4,662.49 billion. On the balance sheet front, the bank’s consolidated assets ended the month of September at LBP 269.40 trillion, with net loans & advances standing at LBP 34.73 trillion and customer deposits nearing LBP 227.34 trillion. Consequently, the bank’s ratio of net loans to customer deposits ended September 2023 down at 15.28% from 20.32% at end of year 2022. Bank Audi’s shareholders’ equity expanded by 193.38% in the first nine months of 2023 to LBP 17.77 trillion amid the adoption of the new official exchange rate of LBP 15,000 per USD starting February which bolstered monetary equity elements that are USD-denominated. The bank stated that the devaluation of the official exchange rate had a pervasive effect on equity given its non-monetary nature (i.e. the value of its LBP-items does not change with the devaluation of the official rate), impacting regulatory ratios in the process, yet commented that the net asset value of the bank’s foreign subsidiaries cushioned this impact as the bank registered some LBP 9,116 billion in foreign currency translation reserves in the first nine months of 2023.