COUNTRY INDEX
|
BAHRAIN |
|
Best Bank: Ahli United Bank |
|
|
Best Investment Bank: Sico Bank |
|
When Covid hit in early 2020, Ahli United Bank and its group chief executive Adel El-Labban stepped up. The bank worked with struggling clients in the eight regional states in which it operates and, true to its reputation as a conservative lender, ratcheted up provisioning to offset losses.
It worked. Net profit dipped 38.1% year on year to $452 million, but neither its cost-to-income ratio, which stayed below 30%, nor its capital adequacy ratio, at 16.1%, moved much in 2020. The bank says what hurt it most weren’t the losses it incurred but its provisioning levels.
In 2020 it posted higher profits and a lower non-performing loan ratio than any other local lender. It continues to invest in digital, unveiling an upgraded mobile banking platform, introducing WhatsApp banking and bolting on new services to Al-Tajer, its digital platform for small and medium-sized firms.
Once again, Sico Bank is Bahrain’s standout investment bank. It boasts scale, with $2.3 billion in assets under management at the end of March 2021, up from $2.1 billion the previous year. And a trio of subsidiaries, including Muscat Capital, a Saudi Arabia investment bank that Sico acquired in March 2021, is helping the full-service firm to be a force across the region.
Bahrain is rarely a hotbed of capital markets activity, but as always Sico, under the leadership of chief executive Najla Al Shirawi, took part in the deals that mattered. During the awards period, it was hired by Kuwait Finance House in its effort to buy Ahli United Bank, with Covid forcing both parties to shelve the deal.
It was hired to help the sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat Holding, to explore the merger of local firms Delmon Poultry and General Poultry. Despite the pandemic, Sico posted a small full-year net profit of $3 million in 2020, underlining its ability to perform well in a time of crisis.
|
EGYPT |
[index] |
|
|
Best Bank: Commercial International Bank |
|||
|
Best Investment Bank: HSBC |
|||
Commercial International Bank (CIB) and its long-standing chief executive Hussein Majid Abaza are in a good place. Profits fell by just over 13% to E£10.23 billion ($653 million) in 2020, but Egypt’s leading private-sector bank is a powerhouse in its market and, increasingly, the wider region. The Cairo-based lender is integral to an economy that, after years of malaise, is thriving under a technocratic government.
The bank was quick to react to the pandemic, supporting its retail and corporate clients. Its consumer division’s loan book grew by 33% year on year in 2020. Returns on equity and assets fell but remain high by local standards, at 19.2% and 2.53% respectively. Deposits rose as business migrated to the systemically strong lender, with 269,000 individuals and corporates becoming CIB clients for the first time. Its tier-1 capital adequacy ratio jumped sharply last year to 28.09%. And 2021 started well, with CIB posting net income of E£2.87 billion in the first quarter, up 20% year on year.
Last year marked the bank’s first foray into sub-Saharan Africa, with the acquisition of a 51% stake in Mayfair Bank, a small Nairobi-based lender that banks corporates and high net-worth individuals, with the aim of profiting from the fast-growing Egypt-Kenya trade corridor.
HSBC is a financial fulcrum in Egypt. Most multinationals that set up offices or factories onshore head straight to the UK-based lender. During the awards period, if there was a sizeable capital markets deal to be engineered, HSBC was on hand.
Two transactions stand out. In September 2020 it acted as structuring adviser, joint lead manager and bookrunner on Egypt’s $750 million green bond – the first such facility by a sovereign in the Middle East and north Africa. The deal secured a yield of 5.25%, the lowest ever for a local five-year print. And in February 2021 HSBC acted as joint lead manager and bookrunner on a triple-tranche $3.75 billion bond issued by the finance ministry that attracted $13.7 billion in orders.
HSBC was busy beyond the state sector, acting as sole financial adviser on the privatization of one of Egypt’s largest power plants, run by Siemens, and issuing $125 million worth of guarantees to support a China-built light-rail project in the capital. It also finalized a E£150 million revolver for Reefy Microfinance, with the aim of supporting female-owned startups and small enterprises.
|
ISRAEL |
[index] |
|
|
Best Bank: Bank Hapoalim |
|||
|
Best Investment Bank: Citi |
|||
It was a stellar year for Bank Hapoalim, with net profit up 14.3% year on year to $631.8 million and retail deposits up 17.1%. It continued its strong performance in 2021, earning $412 million in the first quarter, against $59 million in the same period a year ago. Net interest rose slightly in the first three months, to $685 million, with a common equity tier-1 capital ratio of 11.52% at the end of 2020.
Hapoalim faces challenges and its healthy numbers partly reflect the sums it set aside last year to meet the costs of a US tax evasion probe. A move to shutter 26 branches and let 400 staff go last year was driven by a desire to cut costs but also reflected a push by Bank Hapoalim to frame itself as Israel’s leading digital lender. It is exploring the rollout of a purely digital bank and, in February 2021, launched a new digital wallet that lets customers pay via their smartphone.
For the second year in a row, Citi wins the investment banking award thanks to its bench strength across capital markets and advisory. It advised Tel Aviv-based digital distribution firm ironSource on its $11 billion merger with Thomas Bravo Advantage, a New York-listed special purpose acquisition company (Spac). Citi was financial adviser to ironSource.
Another big Spac trade, led by Itay Makov, the bank’s Israel head of corporate and investment banking, saw FinTech Acquisition Corp V agree to merge with eToro Group, in a deal worth around $10.4 billion, with Citi serving as financial adviser and capital markets adviser to FCTV.
Citi also worked its magic in the equity capital markets space. It helped mobile gaming company Playtika to complete its $1.88 billion Nasdaq IPO in January 2021. In the same month Zim Integrated Shipping Services raised $218 million via its initial offering on the New York Stock Exchange. Citi was a joint bookrunner on both transactions and on a host of debt market deals, including Playtika’s $600 million sale of senior notes in March 2021.
|
JORDAN |
[index] |
|
|
Best Bank: Arab Bank |
|||
Arab Bank is one of the Middle East’s best lenders, with a presence that spans the region. During the awards period, it introduced a host of new consumer banking services, including Arabi Pay, a social payments app that lets users pay for goods via WhatsApp and Instagram, and Arabi Junior, which helps parents to plan financially for their children’s future.
Arab Bank also unveiled a new digital platform for small and medium-sized enterprises, allowing them to apply for business loans without having to visit a branch. Another new innovation, CliQ, lets customers transfer funds between accounts using its Arabi Mobile app or via any Jordanian lender that subscribes to the service.
Onshore Arab Bank’s corporate and institutional banking team was busy, financing an expansion project by Samra Wastewater Treatment and finalizing several solar power projects. Deposits rose strongly in 2020 and the bank’s non-performing loan (6.8%) and capital adequacy (16.77%) ratios were in solid shape at the end of last year.
|
KUWAIT |
[index] |
|
|
Best Bank: National Bank of Kuwait |
|||
|
Best Investment Bank: HSBC |
|||
National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) stood tall in 2020, delivering strong figures in the face of the Covid crisis. Most of its underlying metrics held up well. The bank posted a net interest margin of 2.21% in 2020. Its tier-1 capital adequacy ratio ticked up to 16%, with its ratio of bad loans to overall lending staying below 2% – testament to the bank’s forward thinking strategy under chief executive Salah AlFulaij.
No other local lender compared in terms of assets, deposits and profits. NBK is the onshore bank of choice for state enterprises and multinationals, and its investment banking team is good shape, launching five Islamic leasing and finance funds in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia last year with a combined size of $670 million. Its private banking team launched a new mobile application for high net-worth clients and has plans to grow in Saudi Arabia. It is also looking to expand its retail presence in Egypt, one of the region’s few bright spots last year. In February 2021, NBK sold $700 million worth of additional tier-1 bonds, raising capital at a crucial time.
HSBC stands head and shoulders above the competition in Kuwait. A reasonable deal flow kept the UK lender busy. It was sole financial adviser to Axa on the $475 million sale of its regional insurance division to Gulf Insurance Group. It was joint lead manager on a dual-tranche bond, which raised $1.6 billion for Equate Petrochemical in May 2020, and on Burgan Bank’s $500 million tier-two bond in December.
Two other deals stand out. The first was its role as lead financial adviser to the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects for the construction of the $1.8 billion Umm Al Hayman wastewater project, the country’s largest ever public-private partnership, seen as critical to attracting more institutional and private investment. The second was HSBC’s role in securing inclusion for Boursa Kuwait in the MSCI Emerging Market Index. The bank created a virtual roadshow in October 2020 and worked closely with authorities, investors and market operators to get the deal over the line.
|
OMAN |
[index] |
|
|
Best Bank: Bank Muscat |
|||
|
Best Investment Bank: HSBC |
|||
Bank Muscat again takes the award for Oman’s best bank. It is comfortably the sultanate’s largest lender, with around 35% of the banking sector, but it’s what you do with the resources at your disposal that counts and in a tough year the Omani lender stood strong.
Net interest income dipped 13.4% year on year to $350 million in 2020, but that was balanced by a cost cutting drive, with operating expenses falling 8.2% to $468 million. Its capital adequacy ratio stood at a highly respectable 20.77% at the end of December 2020.
As part of measures to combat the pandemic, Bank Muscat waived charges for SMEs and launched special loans to help micro-sized firms survive the crisis. It bulked up its balance sheet by raising $800 million and in March 2021 successfully closed out its five-year $500 million medium-term note bond plan, part of a $2 billion programme that attracted significant interest from global institutions.
Bank Muscat continues to push ahead with its sustainability plans, which include an anti-fraud awareness campaign and a financial literacy programme for young and rural customers.
HSBC’s strength in and commitment to an important regional market again secures it the investment bank award. Under the leadership of head of global banking, Oman, Alyson Henshaw, HSBC’s headline deals included a $2.2 billion accordion term loan by the finance ministry, with the bank acting as initial mandated lead arranger and bookrunner.
It also finalized a $3.25 billion multi-tranche RegS print for the sovereign in January 2021, with HSBC acting as joint global coordinator and lead manager on a deal that was 16 times subscribed, marking the largest issuance by the sultanate to date.
HSBC was busy elsewhere too, helping Mazoon Petrogas to complete a $171 million, 6.5-year syndicated pre-export finance facility against a backdrop of low oil prices and a challenging macroeconomic picture.
|
QATAR |
[index] |
|
|
Best Bank: Commercial Bank of Qatar |
|||
|
Best Investment Bank: Barclays |
|||
Commercial Bank of Qatar stood up to be counted in a tough year. Net profit dipped to $357 million in the full year 2020, but operating profit for the group rose 14.1% year on year to $863 million. Chief executive Joseph Abraham will have been pleased to see its strong performance carry through into 2021, with the bank posting a profit of $166 million in the first quarter, up 50% on an annualized basis, driven by lower net provisions and an improving economic backdrop.
Fundamentals are strong wherever you look. Commercial Bank’s net interest margin stood at 2.6% at the end of March 2021, while its non-performing loan ratio ticked down to 4.2%.
It is rapidly becoming a regional leader in digital. Its 60-second remittance offering saw a surge of demand as Covid struck. Executives reckon the bank is on track to process six million digital remittances in 2021, against 106,000 in 2016.
During the awards period, the bank launched CB Pay for Merchants, a mobile banking app for business owners, and the Household Worker Paycard, which lets customers pay salaries to staff, including domestic workers. Another key moment saw the bank price a $500 million senior unsecured five-year bond with a yield of 2.083% in September 2020. The deal was 3.8 times subscribed, underlining trust in the lender and the economy.
Eyebrows might be raised among competitors, given Qatar’s investment in the UK lender, but Barclays deserves the investment bank award. It ran a close second in the M&A rankings across the awards period and completed 10 debt capital markets deals worth $1.73 billion, according to Dealogic.
Several of its transactions were state related, including a $10 billion triple-tranche issue for the State of Qatar, which priced in April 2020, marking the first bond by a regional sovereign since the start of the pandemic. But Barclays was also present in deals across the corporate space.
It helped Commercial Bank of Qatar and Doha Bank to raise $500 million worth of five-year senior unsecured notes, working as a joint lead manager on both transactions, and advised telecoms operator Ooredoo on a $1 billion sale of 10-year bonds. In May 2020 Barclays was joint bookrunner on a $1 billion, five-year RegS print by Qatar National Bank, with 98% of orders placed by investors based outside the Gulf.
|
SAUDI ARABIA |
[index] |
|
|
Best Bank: Saudi British Bank |
|||
|
Best Investment Bank: Citi |
|||
Saudi British Bank (SABB) is a relentlessly good operator in the kingdom. Its financials stand testament to its ability to generate strong returns in the toughest of years.
Sponsored video
SABB saw net profit decline 16% year on year in 2020, to $830 million. But it was always going to be a tough year and, elsewhere, the numbers look good. Operating expenses fell, as did impairments. Its return on equity and assets ticked down to 7.3% and 1.2% respectively.
The country’s second-largest corporate bank by assets opened three new onshore branches, introduced a new bank-wide digital loyalty programme, struck new partnerships with e-money wallet providers in Africa and Asia, and unveiled a live chat service for digital customers.
SABB was one of four banks chosen by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority to take part in a pilot scheme to drive digital finance and innovation across the kingdom. During the awards period the bank also unveiled a business-to-business platform and a new e-channel catering to SMEs, local corporates and public-sector firms and agencies.
SABB – Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2021 from Euromoney PLC on Vimeo.
It is almost easier to find a big-ticket capital markets deal Citi was not involved in last year in Saudi Arabia. The US bank was present on a host of key deals for the Public Investment Fund (PIF). In the merger of luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors and special purpose acquisition vehicle Churchill Capital Corp IV, Citi was sole financial adviser to Lucid, which is majority owned by PIF.
When the state-backed fund bought a 2.23% stake in Reliance Industries’ digital unit Jio Platforms in June 2020 for $1.5 billion, the US lender was on hand. Again, it acted as sole financial adviser to the buyer, marking the Saudi fund’s first major investment in corporate India.
Citi also played its part in ECM and DCM. It was a joint bookrunner on a December 2020 deal that saw HSBC increase its stake in Saudi British Bank via an accelerated book-build. And it helped Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) to complete the first-ever Formosa bond offering from the kingdom. Citi was global coordinator and joint lead manager on the $1 billion dual-tranche bond, completed in September 2020, consisting of 10 and 30-year paper.
|
UAE |
[index] |
|
|
Best Bank: Emirates NBD |
|||
|
Best Investment Bank: Citi |
|||
Emirates NBD posted a strong set of financial numbers in 2020. In the face of adversity, group chief executive Shayne Nelson and his team helped the bank to post a net profit of $1.9 billion. Total income rose 4% year on year to $6.3 billion, benefiting, the bank said, from the strong performance of its Turkish subsidiary, DenizBank.
The Dubai-based lender started this year in strong shape, posting a profit of $626 million in the first three months, up 12% year on year and 76% quarter on quarter, boosted by lower costs and a resurgent economy.
Emirates NBD became the first lender in the region to issue an environmental, social and governance-linked syndicated loan, raising $1.75 billion. During the awards period, it led 55 capital markets transactions, raising more than $44 billion and continued to invest in its retail banking and wealth management division, which generated $2.11 billion in income in 2020.
Emirates NBD also boosted its digital offering, introducing voice banking via Amazon’s Alexa and the Liv credit card, connected to its standalone digital bank of the same name, and extending Liv’s reach to customers in Saudi Arabia. Plans for the second half of 2021 include streamlining its digital onboarding process and upgrading its range of remittance services.
The award for UAE’s best investment bank can come as little surprise. In the UAE Citi ranked number one in ECM, completing five deals worth $859 million, for a 41% share of the market, and advised on five M&A deals worth $12.4 billion. The pick of the crop in advisory was the $20.7 billion sale of a 49% stake in ADNOC Gas Pipeline Assets, a division of Abu Dhabi National Oil. Citi acted as exclusive financial adviser to Ontario Teachers, a key member of the buying consortium.
Citi was joint global coordinator and bookrunner on Galaxy Pipeline Assets’ $4 billion debut multi-tranche sale of senior secured bonds in November 2020 and joint lead manager on a $5 billion multi-tranche bond by the sovereign in August 2020, a deal that was nearly five times subscribed and included $1.5 billion worth of 50-year paper, the longest-ever tenor for a Gulf Cooperation Council state.
Elsewhere, Citi acted as the coordinator, bookrunning mandated lead arranger and hedging counterparty on United Tobacco Co’s $100 million syndicated loan, the firm’s inaugural senior secured syndicated multi-currency facility.
