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. The market bellwether saw its share price inch down 0.43 percent to LE55.77 at the close of Wednesday's session of Egypt's stock exchange, while the benchmark EGX30 index was down 1.31 percent to 9,771 points. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/122786.aspx