Chairperson and Managing Director of Suez Canal Bank, Hussein Refaey, said that the bank’s strategy in the coming years aims to launch the bank into a new phase by focusing on expanding investment banking services and non-bank financial services.
The bank also aims to support the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) sector, expand retail banking to enhance the concept of financial inclusion, and continue to focus on supporting and financing large companies.
Refaey revealed that the bank achieved a net profit of EGP 129m during the first quarter (Q1) of this year against EGP 115m in Q1 of 2018–an increase of 12%.
Furthermore, he pointed out that this increase in profits was supported by a net profit increase of 40% and net income from fees and commissions by 36%.
The bank has increased the loan portfolio and customer facilities by 5% to EGP 14.2bn in March 2019 compared to EGP 13.5bn in December 2018. Customer deposits recorded EGP 38.5bn in March 2019, he added.
Meanwhile, Refaey pointed out that the Suez Canal Bank announced the official launch of the smart wallet services (SCB E-WALLET), which provides a variety of mobile and innovative payment services and solutions, in line with the state’s trend toward the provision of financial services and electronic payment to all segments of society, and is continuing to support the efforts of the Central Bank of Egypt in achieving financial inclusion.
Moreover Refaey highlighted that the bank opened three new branches this year, bringing the number of branches to 44, including two branches during Q1.
He stressed the bank’s continued expansion strategy through the opening of other branches, the development of existing branches, the increase of ATM machines, and the development of its potential, in order to achieve optimum geographical spread at the level of different cities and governorates.
