The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) achieved a growth in its earnings before tax (EBT), estimated at 23% during fiscal year (FY) 2014/2015, to reach EGP 10.4bn. The NBE's net profit amounted to EGP 5.1bn with an increase of 36% compared to FY 2013/2014, according to chairman of NBE Hisham Okasha. The bank's financial position increased by EGP 63.3bn bringing its cumulative holdings in assets, liabilities and equity to EGP 519.6bn in June 2015, compared to EGP 456.3bn in June 2014, Okasha said in a statement. In addition, NBE's equity reached EGP 28.3bn in June 2015, with a return on equity estimated at 18%. Okasha added that NBE has achieved a 25% growth in total loans recording EGP 155.7bn in June 2015, compared to a growth of 22% in the banking market. The loans granted by NBE to large companies increased by EGP 22.7bn to reach EGP 107.6bn. The bank also achieved a 23% growth in loans granted to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) with EGP 16.6bn provided through June 2015, while retail loans increased by 20% to reach EGP 31.5bn in June 2015. NBE made banking adjustments worth EGP 2.4bn for 373 clients facing problems in repayment. It also helped a number of defaulting clients by allocating additional funds to meet the shortfall in non-performing loans. This step resulted in a decline in the non-performing loans by 4.3% to total loans in June 2015, compared to 5% in June 2014. The deposit portfolio of the bank amounted to EGP 447.7bn in June 2015, recording an increase of EGP 54.5bn in June 2014, with a 14% growth, Okasha said. The bank increased the number of its ATMs to about 2,150 machines as well as the number of POS machines to 13.477. Okasha said that NBE has recruited nearly 992 new employees during the FY 2014/2015. For the NBE's social contributions, the bank has donated nearly EGP 250m to the health and education sectors as well as to the development of informal housing and combating poverty.
