Mixed performance of United Bank under the leadership of Ashraf El Kady

The United Bank has achieved an average performance in its financial indicators during Ashraf El Kady’s assuming as CEO and Managing Director of the Bank since he assumed executive leadership in March 2016 until the Bank's most recent financial statements in September 2023.

This is evident from the Bank's figures, where the Bank managed to achieve good growth in its net profits and significantly boosted its capital, but its portfolios did not grow as strongly as the rapid growth achieved by banks operating in the banking sector, push it to lose more than half of its market shares.

In a new monitoring conducted by First Bank to measure the development of the Bank's most important declared indicators since Kady assumed executive leadership, it revealed that the Bank's net profits rose by about a 431% between 2015 and 2022, reaching EGP 1.3 bn last year, compared to EGP 245 mn during 2015, with an estimated increase of about EGP 1 bn. 

While Ashraf El Kady was participating in a press conference, he revealed that the bank's profits grew by 30% in 2023, but the value of net profits was not disclosed.

Customer deposits portfolio increased by EGP 23 bn during the period under analysis, reaching EGP 48 bn by the end of September 2023, compared to EGP 25 bn by the end of 2015.

Customer loans portfolio climbed to EGP 25 bn by the end of Q3 of 2023, compared to EGP 9.8 bn by the end of 2015, with growth of 155% and an increase of EGP 15.2 bn.

El Kady has successfully raised the bank's capital since taking over executive leadership, rising from EGP 1 bn in June 2006 when he assumed the leadership, to 5 bn in December 2021, becoming one of the top banks to comply with the Banks Act No. 194 of 2020, relying on direct financing from its retained profits. 

However, the growth in the Bank's portfolio was not enough to increase its market share, as the Bank lost more than half of its share in the deposit market, declining to 0.49% of total banking sector deposits by the end of September 2023, compared to 1.31% by the end of 2015.

Its share in loans market fell to 0.50% of total banking sector loans by the end of Q3 of 2023, compared to 1.25% by the end of 2015.

El Kady gave great importance to digital transformation, as part of which he followed a strategy to develop the technology used in the Bank, and thus; The Bank has invested significantly to enhance the technological infrastructure implemented at the highest possible levels of security, making technology one of the most important sources of strong competitiveness that the United Bank has in its various financial services.

He developed the bank's main system by applying the latest versions of the global company Misys’ Solutions, which contributed to the upgrading of the banking services provided to customers.

He also launched the Integrated and Intelligent Digital System for Instant Self-Enquiry Solutions via Internet Banking Accounts, becoming the first bank in the market to launch this smart digital system, and introduced the Global System "Moody's" to assess the credit rating of each customer.

It should be noted that the United Bank is one of the 3 banks the Government intends to introduce under the Government's privatization programme, which it has announced in its plan to provide dollar flows that contribute to resolving the foreign currency liquidity crisis.