alBaraka Bank Soars to Record-Breaking Growth Under Hazem Hegazy's Leadership

With over 30 years of banking experience, Hazem Hegazy, CEO of Bank alBaraka - Egypt, achieved strong performance, driving the bank to impressive growth rates and outstanding performance across various indicators, particularly related to individual financing. As a result, the bank is among the fastest-growing banks.

First Bank monitors the significant developments in the bank's indicators since Hazem Hegazy took over the executive leadership in early October 2021.

Hegazy worked on expanding the bank's business significantly, enhancing its financial position. This effort led to a substantial increase in the bank's asset portfolio, jumping to EGP 93.76 bn by the end of the first half of 2023, compared to EGP 78.28 bn by the end of the third quarter of 2021, with a growth rate of 19.77%.

He also introduced competitive savings products to attract more customers, resulting in an increase in the bank's customer deposits portfolio to EGP 78.61 bn by the end of June 2023, compared to EGP 68.59 bn by the end of September 2021, with a growth rate of 14.61%, an increase of EGP 10.02 bn.

The increase in alBaraka bank's customer deposits portfolio is attributed to the growth in the bank's corporate deposit portfolio, which jumped from EGP 34.23 bn by the end of the third quarter of 2021 to EGP 39.84 bn by the end of the first half of 2023, with a growth rate of 16.37%, an increase of EGP 5.61 bn.

Additionally, the bank's individual deposits portfolio increased by about 12.85%, reaching EGP 38.77 bn by the end of June 2023, compared to EGP 34.36 bn by the end of September 2021, with an increase of EGP 4.41 bn.

Hegazy significantly boosted alBaraka's financing, offering various privileges and benefits to customers through different products. As a result, the bank's total revenues, participations, and trading reached EGP 38.76 bn by the end of the first half of the current year, compared to EGP 23.27 bn by the end of September 2021, with a growth rate of 66.58%.

This strong performance in the bank's financing portfolio is due to the increases in retail loans, which surged by 159.64%, reaching EGP 6.16 bn by the end of the first half of 2023, compared to EGP 2.37 bn by the end of the third quarter of 2021, with an increase of EGP 3.79 bn.

alBaraka bank is expected to achieve more increases in its individual financing portfolio, especially after the strong and exceptional growth it experienced this year. This growth led it to top First Bank list of the fastest-growing banks in retail loans during the first half of this year, following a growth rate of 42.49% in the first 6 months of 2023.

The bank also saw significant growth in its financing for corporates, with its portfolio increasing by about 56.01% to reach EGP 32.60 bn by the end of the first half of 2023, compared to EGP 20.9 bn by the end of the third quarter of 2021, with an increase of EGP 11.7 bn.

This increase is a result of the bank's significant support for financial institutions, where its financing for them surged by about 3719.70%, reaching EGP 6.58 bn by the end of the first half of 2023, compared to EGP 172.154 mn by the end of September 2021, with an increase of EGP 6.40 bn.

alBaraka's financing for industrial institutions also jumped from EGP 6.57 bn by the end of September 2021 to EGP 12.31 bn by the end of the first half of 2023, with a growth rate of 87.42%, an increase of EGP 5.74 bn.

The bank prioritized compliance with the regulatory instructions issued by the Central Bank of Egypt regarding its issued and paid-up capital. The management succeeded in increasing it to about EGP 5.09 bn by the end of the first half of 2023, compared to EGP 1.55 bn by the end of the third quarter of 2021, with a growth rate of 229.14%, an increase of about EGP 3.54 bn, surpassing the Central Bank of Egypt's set limit of EGP 5 bn.

The bank also significantly enhanced its total financial investments, jumping from EGP 18.87 bn by the end of September 2021 to EGP 42.64 bn by the end of the first half of 2023, with a growth rate of 125.94%, an increase of EGP 23.77 bn.

The bank is expected to achieve more increases in its financial investments, especially during this year, following the strong growth it experienced, which propelled it to top First Bank list of the fastest-growing banks in total financial investments and t-bonds during the first half of this year, with a growth rate of 34.71% on a semi-annual basis.

Hegazy aimed to enhance the employment and development of resources by setting high growth targets, reaching the average of the banking sector. He succeeded in raising loans to deposit ratio to 49.31% by the end of June 2023, compared to 35.01% by the end of the third quarter of 2021.

Under Hazem Hegazy's leadership, this strong performance led by alBaraka bank to achieve record profits. The bank recorded the fastest annual growth in net profits in 6 years, with net profits reaching EGP 1.76 bn in 2022, compared to EGP 1.13 bn in 2021, with an increase of EGP 622.65 mn.

In terms of the bank's net profits during the current year, they increased by about 30.26%, reaching EGP 1.02 bn during the first half of 2023, compared to EGP 783.11 mn during the same period in 2022, with an increase of EGP 236.93 mn.