Egypt boosts BLOM’s profits in 2014: Azhari

The improved performance of BLOM’s subsidiaries in the Middle East region has boosted the bank’s net profits in 2014, its chairman said Thursday. “Frankly speaking, the profits from Lebanon operations alone were slightly less than the year before. The improvements in the results were due to the good growth in the region and Egypt in particular,” Saad Azhari told The Daily Star. But he did not disclose the results of Egypt’s operations. He added that it was too early to assess the performance of the bank’s operations in Iraq because BLOM has only recently entered this market. BLOM, the second-largest bank in Lebanon in terms of assets and deposits, said it posted the largest net profit among all lenders in 2014, with a net income of $365.37 million, an increase of 3.57 percent. “The results continue with the steady growth and strong profitability characteristic of the bank, despite the exceptional circumstances prevailing in Lebanon and the region in the past four years. Net profit was highest in the Lebanese banking system, reaching $365.37 million and increasing by 3.57 percent on 2013,” BLOM said.