Egypt's largest private sector bank, Commercial International Bank (CIB) (COMI), posted a 23 percent rise in second quarter net profits after minority interest compared to the same period last year, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The bank's quarterly earnings were 1.15 billion Egyptian pounds ($146.87 million), up from 932 million in the same period last year. Revenues for the quarter rose 17 percent to 2.38 billion pounds, the bank said. The bank said its deposits increased by 17 percent year-to-date to 143 billion pounds, with a deposit market share of 8.15 percent in April 2015, up from 7.84 percent in December 2014. "CIB continued its strong performance in the second quarter, turning in record consolidated first half top and bottom lines of 4.97 billion and 2.26 billion," Hisham Ezz Al-Arab, CIB Chairman and Managing Director, said in the statement. "The bank gained market share in both local and foreign currency deposits. More impressively, this growth was achieved while protecting our margins and spreads," he added. In June CIB said it had reached a deal to buy Citigroup's consumer banking business in Egypt. The acquisition will add 80,000 credit card holders to CIB's existing 240,000, growing its share of the market by 33 percent, and is expected to close on Oct. 1. Source: Arab Finance
