Byblos Bank published its unaudited financial results for the first half of the year 2024 revealing a net profit of LBP 55.55 billion compared to a net profit of LBP 14.43 billion in H1-2023. The sharp increase in all income statement and balance sheet figures when reported in LBP owes to the adoption of the new official exchange rate of LBP 89,500 per USD starting the month of January 2024 instead of LBP 15,000 per USD previously. In details, net interest income stood at LBP 5,309.20 billion in the first half of the year 2024 while net commission & fee income reached LBP 2,071.80 billion. The bank registered also a net gain on financial instruments & other operating income of LBP 6,363.19 billion (of which some LBP 5,934.90 billion generated from the bank’s trading portfolio, mainly stemming from gains on the devaluation of the official exchange rate). On the other hand, the bank booked LBP 1,335.12 billion in net impairment losses on financial assets compared to some LBP 352.02 billion in impairment charges in H1-2023. Consequently, Byblos Bank registered a net operating income of LBP 12,409.07 billion as at end of June 2024. Concurrently, operating expenses increased markedly on an annual basis when comparing figures in LBP-equivalent to LBP 4,476.22 billion, with personnel expenses reaching LBP 2,108.43 billion and other operating expenses standing at LBP 2,073.93 billion, noting that provisions for risks and charges attained LBP 6,391.08 billion. On the balance sheet front, the bank’s consolidated assets ended the month of June 2024 at LBP 1,026.51 trillion with net loans & advances reaching LBP 47.26 trillion. Byblos bank’s financial assets held at FVTPL soared by around six-folds to LBP 8.88 trillion, with those booked at fair value through other comprehensive income rising by more than three-folds to LBP 10.65 trillion as a result of the aforementioned change in the official exchange rate. The value of financial assets booked at amortized cost attained LBP 4.08 trillion at end of June 2024 compared to LBP 2.11 trillion at end of December 2023. Customer deposits at Byblos Bank reached LBP 866.92 trillion at end of June 2024, resulting in a ratio of net loans to customer deposits of 5.45% compared to 5.87% at end of December 2023. Byblos Bank’s shareholders’ equity stood at LBP 70.35 trillion at end of June 2024 bolstered by an increase in foreign currency translation reserves to LBP 20.31 trillion and a staggering increase in retained profits to LBP 33.95 trillion up from retained losses of LBP 2.59 trillion at end of 2023.