Byblos Bank published its audited financial statements for the year 2024 revealing a net profit of LBP 174.30 billion compared to a net profit of LBP 6.20 billion a year earlier. 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 the previous official exchange rate of LBP 15,000 per USD. In details, net interest income stood at LBP 10,088.97 billion in 2024 while net commission & fee income reached LBP 4,558.10 billion. The bank registered a net gain on financial instruments & other operating income of LBP 7,060.30 billion (of which some LBP 6,308.32 billion generated from the trading portfolio, mainly stemming from gains on the devaluation of the official exchange rate). On the other hand, the bank booked LBP 2,366.93 billion in net impairment losses on financial assets compared to some LBP 1,175.79 billion in impairment charges in 2023. Consequently, Byblos Bank registered a net operating income of LBP 19,340.55 billion in 2024 while booking total operating expenses of LBP 17,339.74 billion, with personnel expenses reaching LBP 4,649.07 billion and other operating expenses standing at LBP 12,051.01 billion (of which LBP 8,600.23 billion are in the form of provisions for risks and charges). On the balance sheet front, the bank’s consolidated assets ended the year 2024 at LBP 1,011.30 trillion with net loans & advances reaching LBP 51.94 trillion and cash & balances with Central Banks attaining LBP 831.47 trillion. Byblos bank’s financial assets held at FVTPL soared by around nine-folds to LBP 14.15 trillion, with those booked at fair value through other comprehensive income rising by more than four-folds to LBP 10.29 trillion as a result of the aforementioned change in the official exchange rate. The value of financial assets booked at amortized cost attained LBP 7.88 trillion at end of year 2024 compared to LBP 2.11 trillion at end of 2023. Customer deposits at Byblos Bank reached LBP 851.08 trillion at end of year 2024, resulting in a ratio of net loans to customer deposits of 6.10% compared to 5.87% at end of 2023. Byblos Bank’s shareholders’ equity reached LBP 68.36 trillion at end year 2024 bolstered by an increase in foreign currency translation reserves to LBP 21.89 trillion and a staggering increase in retained earnings to LBP 30.48 trillion. Subsequently, the bank’s Common Equity Tier 1, Tier 1 Capital Adequacy and Total Capital Adequacy ratios improved to 7.38%, 7.50% and 8.84% on a respective basis.