Market-weight for Byblos share

FFA revises outlook on Byblos Bank with a fair value estimate of $1.9 per share

July 21, 2011- FFA Private Bank has updated its equity research on Byblos Bank with a Market-weight recommendation and a fair value estimate of $1.9 per share. Byblos share at the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) closed at $1.71 on July 20.

FFA’s analysis showed that Byblos had a steady growth in earnings by a 20.7 percent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) between 2005 and 2010 along with a prudent risk management. FFA expected Byblos to witness a 9 percent CAGR for assets and deposits between 2010 and 2012 as well as a CAGR for loans and profits at a respective 10 percent and 11 percent in the same period.

The report valued Byblos Bank’s positioning in the domestic market where operations are conducted through a network of 78 branches and where the Bank holds the 3rd largest market share in terms of assets, deposits, loans and profits.

Byblos Bank achieved a 13 percent growth in assets and an 18 percent increase in deposits in 2010, from a year earlier, while earnings jumped by 23 percent to $178 million. Profits for the first Quarter of 2011 totaled $39 million, up 23 percent year-on-year.