The General Assembly of the Industrial Development and Workers Bank of Egypt (IDWBE) has last week approved the bank's budget and financial statements for the year ending on 31 December 2017. According to the bank's Chairperson and Managing Director Maged Fahmy, the results showed the bank's financial position rising to EGP 20bn at the end of 2017, up from EGP 8.6bn in 2016, marking a growth of EGP 11.4bn or 132%. Total loans and facilities granted to customers at the end of 2017 reached EGP 7.6bn, up from EGP 5.9bn in 2016, reflecting an increase of EGP 1.7bn or 29%, he noted, adding, that the regular loans portfolio reached EGP 6.2bn, up by EGP 1.7% from EGP 4.5bn, marking a growth rate of 38%. In addition, the volume of customer deposits at the bank at the end of last year reached EGP 14.1bn, up from EGP 4bn in 2016, scoring a growth of EGP 10.1bn or 253%. Fahmy continued to say that the bank was able to face all the challenges facing it and achieve profits by the end of 2017 amounting to EGP 453m before taxes, compared to EGP 245m in 2016. This is an increase of EGP 208m and a growth rate of 85%, while net profits scored EGP 244m, up from EGP 190m, marking a growth of 28%. The bank was ranked in first place by the Business News survey in asset growth, net profit growth, and net market share growth, and also ranked in first place in the cost-of-income index, amounting among the most efficient banks, Fahmy pointed out. Also, according to Fahmy, the results achieved by the bank in 2017 reflect the extent of the efforts exerted by management and employees to improve performance, implement the highest standards of customer service, and the bank's success in attracting a large customer segment, especially, after actively involving the Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) in every work initiative for the promotion of the idea of financial inclusion and adopting a clear and ambitious plan to support the economy. Furthermore, Hamdy Azzam, the deputy chairperson, said the bank had pumped EGP 5bn to finance major corporates, in addition to EGP 2.4bn, which are under study. The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) loans portfolio has reached EGP 2.6bn, in addition to EGP 200m under processing and EGP 400m, which are under study. The bank provided EGP 1.2bn in funds to 80,000 micro projects through direct financing and re-lending associations, in addition to contributing a package of new funding worth EGP 100m in cooperation with the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), in which 10 associations participate, Azzam added. Regarding the bank's participation in development projects, Azzam explained that the bank succeeded in financing the first vegetables and fruit commodity exchange in Egypt and the Middle East in Beheira. This exchange includes 120 exhibits, 680 shops, 130 refrigerators, and 50 exporting terminals. The bank also signed a protocol with the Industrial Development Authority on funding the ‘Your Project is Ready With Licenses' initiative. Moreover, the IDWBE will soon sign an agreement with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to finance the expansion of Rubiky's Leather City, which lies on 160 feddans on the Cairo-Suez Road. The bank also aims to sign new cooperation agreements to fund the Damietta Furniture City and finance gas delivery to industrial units and other development projects in various governorates. Azzam elaborated that the bank recently succeeded in increasing the number of housing units, which will be linked to natural gas up to 375,000 units with funds of EGP 675m. The value of the bank's involvement in the CBE's mortgage finance has grown to EGP 620m, where the bank financed 6,000 clients, ranking fifth amongst banks participating in the initiative. Plus, the bank's share in this initiative increased to EGP 1bn after the signing of a protocol with the Mortgage Finance Fund. Azzam confirmed that year 2017 was a remarkable turning point in the bank's history, which will be followed by a comprehensive vision to achieve a major start for the bank at the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 through several axes, including the restructuring of the bank's employees, the trend towards increasing its capital, enhancing the geographical spread of the bank, and changing the bank's perception by changing its name and brand identity in the very near future.
