Lebanon’s Banque du Liban et D'Outre-Mer (BLOM) achieved net profits of $83.57 million in 2002, an increase of 4.2 percent over 2001. Assets grew by 13.7 percent to $7.15 billion and customer deposits increased by 12.49 percent to $6.21 billion.
Tier 1 and 2 capital improved by over 25 percent, from $450 million to $569 million at the end of 2002. BLOM attributes this strong increase in capital funds to a combination of retained profits and the issuance of $75 million in preferred shares.
BLOM has an agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private sector arm, to be the foreign partners in a Syrian bank venture, owning 39 percent of the shares. Under the new Syrian banking law, 51 percent of shares have to be held by national investors.
The Beirut-based BLOM Bank was founded in 1951. In 2001, it remained the only Lebanese bank to be awarded the highest Domestic Strength Rating 'BBB+' by Capital Intelligence, and this for the fourth consecutive year. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
