The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has revealed that the net profits of banks operating in the Egyptian market recorded about EGP 29.991bn in March 2021. This compared to the EGP 36.902bn reported in March 2020, in an indication of the continuing repercussions of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the banking sector units. Topping the list of those banks are: the National Bank of Egypt (NBE); Commercial International Bank (CIB); Banque Misr; QNB Alahli; Crédit Agricole Egypt; the Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt; and the Housing and Development Bank (HDB). The CBE indicated in a recent report that the net income of banks amounted to about EGP 94.401bn in March 2021. Meanwhile, the activity's revenues amounted to EGP 117.296bn, whilst banks' expenses amounted to about EGP 87.305bn. According to the CBE, the top 10 banks in the Egyptian banking sector achieved net profits of about EGP 26.347bn in March 2021. This was equivalent to about 87.84% of the total profits of banks as a whole. The net activity revenues of the top 10 banks scored about EGP 97.381bn, whilst the net return amounted to EGP 78.387bn, and the total expenses amounted to EGP 71.034bn. The CBE pointed out that the top 5 banks acquired 76.766% of the net profits of the total banks, recording EGP 23.023bn in December 2020. The net activity revenues of the top 5 banks scored about EGP 88.378bn, whilst the net return amounted to EGP 70.856bn, and the total expenses amounted to about EGP 65.355bn. The return on average assets in banks decreased to 1.2% in March 2021, compared to 1.8% in December 2020. The return on average equity reached 14.9%, compared to 23.4%, while the net profit margin reached 3.7%, compared to 4.1%. The return on average assets in the top 10 banks recorded 1.2% in March 2021, compared to 1.7% in December 2020. Meanwhile, the return on average equity was 15.9%, compared to 23.5% in the same comparison period, while the net profit margin reached 3.6%, compared to 4%. The return on average assets for the top 5 banks was 1% in March 2021, compared to 1.5% in December 2020. The return on average equity was 14.5%, compared to 21.6%, while the net profit margin reached 3.3%, compared to 3.8%.
