Hussein Rifai, the Chairperson and Managing Director of the Suez Canal Bank, said that the bank achieved a 6% growth rate, reaching EGP 57.4bn by the end of 2021, compared to 2020's EGP 54.4bn. This was in light of the precautionary measures and initiatives adopted by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) for the second year in a row. He added that the bank was also able to achieve a profit of EGP 605m, which is the same as what was achieved last year. Furthermore, the bank achieved a 30% growth rate in employment in the loan and facilities portfolio for customers to reach EGP 23bn by the end of 2021, compared to the previous year's EGP 17.8bn. Customer deposits also increased by 14% to reach EGP 50.6bn, up from EGP 44.3bn. This was accompanied by an increase in employment rates, bringing the ratio of net loans to deposits to 45.6% by the end of 2021, compared to 2020's 40.1%. The syndicated loan portfolio also increased by 27% to reach EGP 8.2bn, up from 2020's EGP 6.5bn. The growth came as a direct result of the bank's participation in arranging many loans within strong banking alliances and in strategic sectors, including petroleum, real estate development, contracting, and food and steel industries. Furthermore, the bank's investments amounted to EGP 2bn in the initiatives of the CBE to support industry, contracting, and tourism companies with a growth rate of 36% over the previous year. He added that the bank's total personal loan portfolio witnessed a growth of 48%, reaching EGP 1.789bn compared to EGP 1.209bn at the end of 2020, and the portfolio of small- and medium-sized enterprises increased by the end of 2021 to reach EGP 2.3bn in direct and indirect financing, including EGP 1.5bn in direct financing, up by 13% from 2020. Throughout 2021, the bank participated in arranging and ensuring coverage of many issuances of bonds and financing instruments, and the portfolio amounted to about EGP 4.3bn with a growth rate of 53% after the bank succeeded in obtaining a license to engage in promotion and coverage of subscriptions in securities from the Financial Regulatory Authority in 2020. Within the framework of the new products, the SCB ELITE VIP package was launched for senior customers, which offers many banking and non-banking benefits, and a points programme was launched customers when using credit cards, direct debit cards, prepaid cards, allowing them to redeem points in many stores in the Egyptian market. Within the framework of the bank's strategy to develop and rehabilitate branches to keep pace with the developments of modern technology, the Suez Canal Bank also opened the Smash Club and Arkan branches. Additionally, it renovated many of the branches, which now feature a space to serve VIP customers and give them a unique banking experience by providing the latest advanced technological services that the branches have been equipped with as well as interactive screens that allow communication with customer service representatives via video and audio to facilitate access to the required banking service, as well as products that support the development of their business plans.
