BANKS IN ARAB countries faced growing domestic competition, continued weakness in global investment markets, tighter margins and higher loan and investment loss provisions in 2002. The top 100 Arab banks’ net profits grew by just 0.7% last year on an aggregated basis, following a fall in 2001. Overall return on equity fell to 12.9% in 2002 from 14.1% in 2001.
There were variations in country performance, with most banks in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman performing well while many in Bahrain, Egypt and Tunisia recorded weaker results.
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