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Egypt's HDB records 7.8% growth, total profits of EGP 878m in 1Q 2022 Chairperson says plans for growth, development of HDB lead to rapid growth rates in various sectors
The Housing and Development Bank (HDB), which is headed by Hassan Ghanem — Chairperson and Managing Director — achieved total profits before provisions and taxes worth EGP 878m during the first quarter (1Q) of 2022, compared to 1Q 2021's EGP 814m — a growth rate of 7.8%. It also recorded a net profit after provisions and taxes of EGP 640m, with a growth rate of 3.2%, with the chairperson adding that the bank was able to achieve strong performance indicators in all sectors over the past three months. Furthermore, Ghanem said that the bank was able to achieve remarkable progress in implementing its strategic plan to become one of the top commercial banks in Egypt. This reflects the success of the bank's plans for growth and development, which led to rapid growth rates and a remarkable boom in various fields. He also indicated that despite the economic challenges facing the global and local economy, the bank was able to continue implementing its expansion plan at the geographical and business development levels by injecting large investments to develop and modernise the technological infrastructure, which contributed to the rapid implementation of the bank's transformation plans and moving towards a new stage of providing competitive digital services, enhancing the levels and efficiency of services to achieve customer satisfaction. Additionally, the results of the HDB showed the strength of its financial position, as the net income from the return during 1Q 2022 increased by 18.5, driven by an increase in the bank's portfolio of customer loans by 6.8%. The return on loans and similar revenues also increased by 25.5%, along with an increase in net income from fees and commissions by 39.7% due to the growth in fees and commissions for retail banking loans in addition to the boom in financing foreign trade operations of companies. Furthermore, Ghanem indicated that the total loans and credit facilities to customers increased by EGP 2bn — an increase of 6.8% compared to the end of 2021 — driven by the increase in total loans provided to corporate clients and individuals by 5.9%, with a growth rate of 6.4%. He explained that customer deposits increased by EGP 7.2bn with a growth rate of 11.4%, pointing out that the loan to deposit ratio amounted to 40.8%, while the capital adequacy ratio reached 23.47%, exceeding the established regulatory limit. Ghanem added that dividends from financial investments, subsidiaries, and sister companies increased by 2.4%. The chairperson stressed that the efficiency and professionalism of the bank's executive management, its employees, Board of Directors, and the continuous follow-up had a major role in achieving these good indicators in light of the current economic conditions on all items of the budget and income statement during 1Q of 2022. According to Ghanem, the bank's achievement of these results — in addition to providing new competitive products and services — has led to attracting new segments of customers, which has led to an increase in the bank's market share. He also pointed out that these developments enabled the bank to win many international awards in several fields, most notably the awards for 'Most Efficient Bank in Providing Mobile Banking Services', 'Most efficient in providing Internet Banking Services', and 'Leading Commercial Bank in Egypt 2022' from prestigious international institutions, which comes as a culmination of the continuous efforts made by the bank over the past months. Ghanem added that the bank has implemented a digital transformation plan to keep pace with the efforts of the state and the directives of CBE in this regard, noting that the bank launched many applications and electronic services, such as an electronic wallet, along with internet and the mobile banking. This allows the bank's customers to have access to over 50 direct services. Finally, Ghanem indicated that the state has adopted an integrated strategy to achieve financial inclusion and transform into a cashless society. Within this framework, the HDB has paid great attention to financial inclusion, aiming to integrate groups that had not previously dealt with the banking system.
