Barclays Bank is targeting a EGP 1bn increase in its loans portfolio by the end of 2014, bringing it to approximately EGP 6bn, according to Shady Kamal, Head of Executive Management. The bank is also looking to target EGP 2bn in its retail banking portfolio by the end of 2014. Previous figures for its retail banking portfolio targets had been quoted at EGP 1.8bn by the end of the year, with EGP 5bn for its loans portfolio. Barclays' had originally targeted EGP 5bn by the end of 2014, with the bank also targeting a EGP 2bn increase in its retail banking portfolio by the end of the year. The bank is aiming to set up a unit dedicated to Real Estate Financing with an initial portfolio of EGP 50m, and hopes to increase this amount later. This comes following the central bank initiative to promote bank contributions in mortgage finance, according to Kamal. Barclays' volume of financing across several sectors through the first four months of the year was approximately EGP 700m, said Kamal. The distribution of the financing, he explained, is EGP 400m for the telecommunications sector, EGP 200m for medicines, and EGP 100m for food and beverages. Kamal noted that Barclays has contributed approximately $40m in finance to the African Export-Import Bank through the first four months of 2014. Barclays has an ambitious plan to use available customer data and information to offer new services online that will allow clients to access all types of account details over the internet. The bank's salary transfer service, which it launched at the beginning of the year, allows total security and the possibility of using the ATMs of other banks, according to Kamal. The bank has contracted with about 40 companies, including small, medium, and multinational companies, to transfer the salaries of their employees. The bank intends to open 6 new branches over the coming two years, which would bring the bank's total number of branches in Egypt to 60. The new branches include those in Sixth of October and New Cairo, said Kamal. The bank's earnings for last year revealed that it achieved a net profit of EGP 424.5m compared with EGP 368.4m in 2012.
