Egypt's biggest listed bank, Commercial International Bank, posted a 29 percent rise in 2013 fourth quarter net profit to LE757 million ($109 million), the bank said on Wednesday. The bank's revenues for the fourth quarter rose by 15 percent to LE1.74 billion ($0.24 billion). CIB posted a 35 percent rise in net profit for the full year in 2013. It made 3 billion Egyptian pounds, compared with LE2.2 billion ($0.3 billion) a year earlier. The bank posted a record revenue of LE6.98 billion (roughly $1 billion), 31 percent higher than the previous year. Egyptian banks such as CIB have been able to keep their bottom lines growing partly due to high interest rates paid by the state last year for its short-term borrowing. State borrowing costs rose as foreign investors exited the local treasury market, tax receipts suffered from a weak economy and the government boosted spending to meet popular demands for better living standards after the uprising against president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The CIB share rose 1.2 percent in the midday trading session, currently registering LE33.88. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/94053.aspx
