CAIRO: National Societe Generale Bank (NSGB), Egypt's second-biggest private bank by market capitalization, boosted its net profit in the fourth quarter, partly due to ending of a charge for a 2005 acquisition, it said on Thursday. Fourth quarter net income rose 18 percent to LE 349 million ($246.9 million), bolstered by the ending of a LE 90 million quarterly amortization charge NSGB had been taking following its 2005 purchase of Egypt's MIBank. Full-year net income rose 11 percent to LE 1.49 billion. Nancy Fahmy, an analyst with Beltone Financial, said that if amortization were excluded, full-year net profit would have declined by perhaps 12 percent instead of rising. "I honestly don't feel that is bad given what has been happening in the country. We see decent growth on the balance sheet, the net interest income has grown and fees and commissions are up," Fahmy said. The uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 hurt banks by pushing the economy into recession, slowing investment and causing capital to flee abroad. The uprising closed banks by almost two weeks. "Despite the uncertain and unstable economic environment, and the temporary interruptions of our operations in February 2011 that were experienced during the last year, NSGB was able to maintain its growth," it said in a statement. Bank profit was also reduced by a post-uprising increase in corporate income tax to 25 percent from 20 percent in 2010. NSGB, owned 77 percent by France's Societe Generale, said net interest income in the third quarter rose 9.5 percent to LE 543.5 million. Societe Generale, France's second biggest listed bank, also reported fourth quarter results on Thursday. Total lending increased by 12 percent in 2011 and deposits by 3 percent, it said.
