The Banking The Banking Executive Magazine - June 2024 Issue

NBE EGYPT'S NBE SIGNS $1BLN SYNDICATED LOAN equity of 28.5% (compared to 17.6% in March 2023). The bank’s strong performance in- dicators were evident in its opera- tional efficiency improvements. The cost-to-income ratio declined from 38.6% in March 2023 to 30.8% in March 2024. Banque du Caire con- tinued to invest in infrastructure and increased spending, particularly in technology and human resources. Customer deposits at the bank saw a 4% growth, rising to EGP 312.9bn in March 2024 (compared to EGP 302.1bn in December 2023). Indi- vidual deposits accounted for ap- proximately 54% of the total deposits, reaching EGP 169.2bn, while institutional deposits in- creased by about 46%, reaching EGP 143.7bn. The total balance of customer and bank loans also grew, reaching EGP 197.1bn in March 2024 (compared to EGP 179.8bn in 2023). This rep- resents a 10% growth rate, resulting in a loan-to-deposit ratio of approx- imately 63%. According to the bank, loans from major companies and banks in- creased by EGP 11.5bn, reaching approximately EGP 92.9bn in the first quarter of 2024 (compared to EGP 81.4bn in December 2023), with a growth rate of 14%. The bal- ance of small and medium enter- prises loans reached EGP 25.7bn, reflecting an increase of EGP 1.7bn (a growth rate of 7%). Additionally, financing for micro-enterprises reached EGP 11.1bn, up from EGP 10.5bn, representing a 6% growth. Meanwhile, the retail banking port- folio of Banque du Caire reached EGP 67.4bn, compared to EGP 63.9bn previously. This represents an increase of EGP 3.5bn, with a growth rate of 5%. In the first quarter of 2024, the credit card portfolio stood at EGP 2bn, reflecting a growth rate of 17% compared to the end of 2023 (when it was EGP 1.8bn). The bank saw an increase in the number of debit, prepaid, and credit cards across all types, totalling 3.6 million cards. Banque du Caire issued more than 468,000 prepaid cards in collabo- ration with Telda in Q1 2024. These cards allow users to transfer money and manage their daily expenses. The Qahera Cash wallet facilitated 1.3 million transactions, totalling EGP 2.7bn. Additionally, approxi- mately 229,000 wallets were cre- ated for merchants. The bank operates 11,200 elec- tronic points of sale (POS), handling transactions worth EGP 714m. Banque du Caire operates 249 branches and banking units, along with approximately 1,670 ATMs. These channels facilitated 17 mil- lion transactions, amounting to EGP 41bn. The bank is committed to accessi- bility, with 10% of its ATMs de- signed to serve customers with special needs. Plans are underway to increase this percentage to 20% in 2024. In Q1 2024, Banque du Caire at- tracted 80,000 new customers. Among these, women constituted 45% of the total customer base, while young people aged 16 to 35 accounted for approximately 57%. Overall, the bank’s individual cus- tomers reached 4 million during this period. ISSUE 186 JUNE 2024 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 17 National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the oldest commercial bank in the coun- try, has signed a $1 billion senior un- secured syndicated term loan facility. The loan will be used for general cor- porate funding purposes and trade fi- nance requirements of NBE. "Following strong global demand from 19 institutions from across the globe, including from Western Eu- rope, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the facility was 1.7 times over- subscribed from the original launch amount of $750 million, at senior mandate level," according to a state- ment from NBE. While Emirates NBD Capital Lim- ited, Mashreqbank PSC and Firstrand Bank Limited (acting through its Rand Merchant Bank Division) acted as the coordinators, Emirates NBD Capital Limited acted as the syndica- tion agent.