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Israel Discount Bank's Q1 profit up 5.3% YOY; Egypt's central bank holds rates

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Israel Discount Bank's Q1 profit up 5.3% YOY; Egypt's central bank holds rates

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

* Israel Discount Bank Ltd. reported first-quarter net profit attributed to shareholders of 319 million shekels, up from 303 million shekels in the same period in 2017. The lender, which has not distributed dividends to its shareholders since 1996 apart from a one-time distribution in 2008, noted that it will begin distributing quarterly dividends of up to 15% of the net distributable earnings. The board declared a dividend at the rate of 10% of the profits for the first quarter, amounting to 32 million shekels.

* The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Ltd. said it is working with professional services firm Accenture and fintech hub The Floor to develop a new blockchain securities lending platform.

* The Central Bank of Iraq has ordered financial firms in the country to stop doing business with Al Bilad Islamic Bank for Investment and Finance (PSC) and its CEO, Aras Habib Karim, after the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions against them earlier this week, The National reported.

* Qatar's Commercial Bank (PSQC) has given initial price guidance for its planned benchmark-sized U.S. dollar-denominated bond issue, Reuters wrote, citing a document by one of the banks leading the deal. The initial price guidance was in the area of 237.5 basis points over midswaps.

* The Central Bank of Egypt maintained the rate of its main operation at 17.25% and the overnight deposit rate and overnight lending rate at 16.75% and 17.75%, respectively. The discount rate was kept at 17.25%.

* Banque Misr SAE has hired Citigroup to arrange a $500 million syndicated loan, insiders told Reuters.

* The IMF reached a staff-level agreement with Egyptian authorities that would make approximately $2 billion in loans available to the country, bringing total disbursements under the three-year, $12 billion extended fund facility program for Egypt to about $8 billion. The agreement is subject to the approval of the IMF's executive board.

* Moody's downgraded the investment manager quality assessment of United Arab Emirates-based Mashreq Capital (DIFC) Ltd. to MQ3 from MQ2.

* Capital Intelligence Ratings affirmed National Bank of Bahrain BSC's long- and short-term foreign-currency ratings at BB/B, with a stable outlook.

EAST AND WEST AFRICA

* Equity Group Holdings Plc reported first-quarter group profit after tax and exceptional items and minority interest of 5.87 billion Kenyan shillings, up from 4.83 billion shillings in the same period in 2017.

* Cim Finance Ltd., a Mauritius financial technology company, has launched its operations in Kenya with an investment of 9 billion Kenyan shillings in mobile-based lending for household items, Business Daily Africa wrote.

* Fitch Ratings assigned long- and short-term issuer default ratings of B+/B, a support rating of 4, a "b" viability rating and national long- and short-term ratings of AAA(uga)/F1+(uga) to Standard Bank Group Ltd. unit Stanbic Bank Uganda Ltd. The outlooks on the long-term ratings are stable.

* Tanzania-based CRDB Bank Plc reported first-quarter group after-tax net income of 9.73 billion shillings, down from 26.30 billion shillings in the year-ago period. Impairment losses on loans and advances rose year over year to 30.85 billion shillings from 24.68 billion shillings.

CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

* Investec, which comprises London-listed Investec PLC and Johannesburg-listed Investec Ltd., reported combined earnings attributable to shareholders of £505.5 million for the year ended March 31, up from £442.5 million in the year-ago period. The board proposed a final dividend of 13.5 pence per ordinary share, equating to a full-year dividend of 24 pence, up from 23 pence in 2017.

* Old Mutual PLC plans to delist its shares from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange on June 29, pending approval from shareholders, as part of the Anglo-South African financial group's managed separation of its businesses, The Financial Gazette reported.

* Mauritius-based MCB Group Ltd. reported attributable profit to ordinary equity holders of the parent of 5.45 billion rupees for the nine months ended March 31, up from 5.19 billion rupees in the year-ago period. The group's attributable profit for the quarter ended March 31 declined to 1.80 billion rupees from 1.82 billion rupees.

* The Bank of Mauritius postponed its May 18 monetary policy committee meeting to May 30, citing "administrative matters" following a reorganization of the committee.

* Zambian President Edgar Lungu extended Denny Kalyalya's contract as governor of the country's central bank for five years, effective in February, according to Bloomberg News.

* Foreign exchange house operators in Angola urged President João Lourenço to allow them to buy euros from the central bank, seven months since they were excluded from the monetary authority's weekly auctions, O País reported. The country has been suffering from an acute shortage of foreign currency in recent years due to lower crude prices and a halt on dollar-clearing services by foreign banks.

* Mozambique's central bank launched a Sandbox incubator project to help develop the country's financial technology sector and boost financial inclusion, O País reported. In the project's first phase, five startups will be supported for six months.

* The Reserve Bank of Malawi launched an invitation to bid regarding its intention to engage a service provider to carry out an external quality assessment review of the central bank's internal audit function. Eligible interested bidders have until June 29 to submit their bids.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong fines Citi unit; Indonesia hikes rate; ANZ to exit Cambodian JV

Europe: Deutsche Börse to shed managers; NN Group, KBC post Q1 results; AIB selling NPLs

Latin America: Macri: Argentine currency crisis over; Grupo Aval's Q1 profit rises 1.8%

North America: KS, First Citizens settle; Vista Equity, Thoma Bravo seek billions in funds

North America Insurance: Sen. Graham in another ACA repeal effort; Travelers' cat bond to upsize

Deza Mones, Henni Abdelghani, Sophie Davies and Helen Popper contributed to this report.

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