Egypt's CIB reports 36% rise in fourth quarter net profit

Egypt's largest-listed lender Commercial International Bank (CIB) reported a 36 percent rise in its fourth quarter 2014 net profit on Tuesday to LE1.03 billion ($135 million).

The bank also posted a 24 percent increase in its net income for the full year to a record LE3.74 billion ($), with revenues up 19 percent from the previous year to LE8 billion.

“Lending activity continued to recover in the fourth quarter. Our loan portfolio grew over LE8 billion, or 18%, throughout 2014, including a record LE2 billion in new retail loans," said – Hisham Ezz Al-Arab, Chairman and Managing Director of CIB, commenting on the results.

“Our balance sheet growth was fuelled by over LE25 billion in new deposits, our highest growth rate in 8 years. Both retail and corporate deposits performed well during the year," he added