Misr International Bank (MIBank) reported a five percent fall in its net profits for the first quarter of the financial year 2002. Between January and March 2001, the bank’s net profits totaled 50.29 million Egyptian pounds ($10.93 million), down 4.5 percent from the EP52.66 million earned in the corresponding period the previous year.
Interest revenue dropped nine percent to EP219.14 million, while interest expense decreased 11 percent to EP162.21 million. Thus, MIB’s net interest income decreased 2.8 percent, reaching EP57.21 million by quarter-end. At the same time, MIBank’s non-interest income increased 9.76 percent to EP60.75 million.
MIBank was established in 1975 as a joint venture between several financial institutions, including the Egyptian state-owned Banque Misr, Banca di Roma International, UBAF Bank (now The British Arab Commercial Bank) and The First National Bank of Chicago.
In 1993, First National Bank of Chicago, the second largest shareholder then, sold its 20 percent stake to Banque Misr. Three years later, Banque Misr sold a 10 percent stake of its interest in MIBank, which then stood at 55 percent, in line with the government’s privatization program requiring state-controlled entities to reduce their holdings in private banks to a maximum of 20 percent. In 1997, Banque Misr sold an additional 20 percent of its shares in the form of Global Depository Receipts (GDR) bringing its holdings down to 25 percent.
MIBank provides a broad range of lending depository and related financial services to the industrial and business sectors. The bank has operations in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Japan. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
