Byblos Bank Reports First Annual Loss Since 1963

Byblos Bank, one of the biggest banks in Lebanon, reported its first annual loss since its inception in 1963 due to the allocation of “collective provisions” for the bank’s expected credit losses on its portfolio of Lebanese Eurobonds.

The bank said "several dramatic factors have come together for the first time since Lebanon’s independence 75 years ago and caused the Lebanese banking sector to suffer unprecedented losses in 2019".

Byblos Bank recorded in 2019 a total of $122 million in losses. Total assets dropped by 12 percent to $21.918 billion, resulting mainly from the decrease in customer deposits by 5.9 percent to $17.376 billion.

Total net customer loans dropped by 18 percent to $4.470 billion, due to the deterioration of the economic and financial conditions in the country, the bank said in a statement.

Total equity dropped by 13 percent to $1.950 billion, resulting from the losses incurred in 2019.