The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) directly offered loans, participated in syndicated loans and covered letters of credit, letters of guarantee and contingent liabilities with value of EGP 20 billion to petroleum sector at the end of last April, said Mahmoud Montasser, member of NBE's board of directors and supervisory of Credit sector. On the sidelines of the Arab Banking Forum convened under the slogan of “SMEs: The Arab Economic Strategic Choice", Montasser said the Bank has not received any new demands from the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, adding that the Corporation is continuously withdrawing from the credit balances which the bank recently approved. NBE's net profit registered EGP 950 million for the first half of FY 2011 ended On December 31st 2011, compared with net profit of EGP 1.1 billion for the first half of 2010. NBE targets increasing net profit to reach EGP 1.6 billion at the end of the current fiscal year. NBE is the largest arranger and manager of syndicated loans in Middle East and North Africa. According to Bloomberg rating, NBE was named 2011 largest bookrunner of syndicated loans with a market share of 13%. The bank was also the number-two mandated arranger by market share in the region with a 5.5% market share.
