CAIRO - National Societe Generale Bank, Egypt's fourth-biggest bank by assets, posted
a 20 percent drop in third-quarter net profit citing a slowdown
in the market and a one-off boost a year ago.
NSGB Chairman Mohamed El-Dib said the results, which beat
analysts' forecasts, put the bank in a good position to benefit
from economic recovery in 2010, but warned of a decline in the
creditworthiness of some customers.
The bank, more than 70 percent owned by France's Societe
Generale, said net profit fell to 224 million Egyptian
pounds ($41 million), beating the 214.9 million pounds average
forecast of four analysts polled by Reuters.
The bank said profit fell from the third quarter of 2008 "as
a result of one-off positive impacts in Q3 2008 and of the
slowdown of the whole market." It did not give a comparative
third-quarter figure for 2008.
"In a continued environment of slowdown, NSGB is focusing on
increasing its market share, controlling risk and covering more
geographical areas," El-Dib said in a statement.
Still, the bank said any recovery might be balanced out by a
decline in the credit worthiness of some customers.
"The impact of the crisis on the commercial operations of
some companies and the deterioration of their credit worthiness
could lead to a progressive increase in the cost of risk in the
coming quarters," it said.
"On the other hand, this could be compensated by positive
signals in recovery which should positively impact Q4 2009."
Total assets rose 13.6 percent in the first nine months of
2009 to 52.32 billion pounds, while loans to customers and banks
edged up 2.3 percent to 25.6 billion, "signalling a slowdown in
the rest of the economy," the bank said.
Customer deposits climbed 17.6 percent to 43.4 billion
pounds as a result of a more aggressive commercial policy,
particularly on the retail side, it added.
For the first nine months, net income slid 5 percent to 791
million pounds.
NSGB, had a nine-month net profit in 2008 of 828 million.