The business results of Banque du Caire revealed that the bank had achieved pre-tax profits of about EGP 5.29bn in 2019, compared to EGP 3.89bn in 2018, while its net profit increased to nearly EGP 4bn from EGP 2.5bn. The bank achieved 31% return on equity and 2.3% return on assets. According to the performance indicators of the bank, the net interest income increased by 29% last year compared to 2018, to EGP 8.3bn, and the net fee and commission income also increased by 36% to EGP 1.5bn. The bank's return on average assets (ROAA) was 2.3% compared to 1.6%, while the return on average equity (ROAE) was 31% compared to 22.4%. The bank's total assets increased 10% to EGP 183.4bn in 2019, supported by a 20% rise in the loan portfolio to EGP 79.2bn, and a 15% surge in deposits to EGP 151bn. Moreover, the bank's loans portfolio increased collectively: corporate loans by 7.2%, small and medium enterprise loans by 146%, retail banking by 18.5%, and micro loans by 56%. Chairperson and CEO of Banque du Caire Tarek Fayed said that "the year 2019 witnessed the launch of the new identity and brand for the bank, which reflects the scale of development and innovation." He added that the bank developed its different loan portfolios, in addition to retail banking, pointing out that the loan-to-deposit ratio exceeded 52% in 2019. The bank's corporate loan portfolio reached about EGP 40bn in 2019, while the loans for micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSMEs) were about EGP 13.7bn, of which EGP 7bn for micro projects, bringing the loans for MSMEs to 20% of the bank's total loans, in accordance with the regulations issued by the Central Bank of Egypt. Fayed said the retail banking portfolio increased by about EGP 4bn to EGP 26bn. Also, mortgage finance reached EGP 2.1bn in 2019, compared to EGP 1.7bn in 2018, a 25% growth. He stressed that the bank has plans for digital transformation, and that it's in the process of developing comprehensive payment services such as "Cairo Cash" via mobile phone, whose customer base exceeded 305,000 in 2019. The bank also launched internet banking services for retail customers, and developed plans to provide the service for companies this year. Mobile Banking service will also be debuted soon. Banque du Caire is now in the process of developing an Interactive Voice Response service, and has issued more than 450,000 Meeza national e-payment cards so far, and plans to open two digital branches this year.
