Profits of Lebanese banks in Syria surge – on paper

The Daily Star

Net profits of the seven Lebanese banks operating in Syria have grown around 591 percent to 13.1 billion Syrian pounds, but experts dismissed the rise as merely due to valuation of foreign currencies to the pound.

The surge in net income is chiefly due to sharp increases in unrealized net foreign exchange gains from 3.7 billion Syrian pounds in the first half of 2012 to 31.4 billion in same period in 2013, according to data compiled by Byblos Bank.

Source: The Daily Star FULL STORY