Bank of Sharjah Group has reported a pre-provision net profit of Dhs175 million for the period ended Sept.30, 2021. Upon application of Dhs1,475 million as ‘hyperinflation effect’ linked to operations of its Lebanese subsidiary Emirates Lebanon Bank (ELBank), the Group recognized a net loss of Dhs1,300 million and a total comprehensive loss of Dhs1,252 million against a positive equity component of Dhs1,866 million.

The Group’s balance sheet remains strong, with total assets standing at Dhs38.5 billion, up 7 per cent against Dhs36.14 billion as of Dec.31, 2020, and total equity of Dhs3.77 billion against Dhs3.16 billion as of Dec.31, 2020, reflecting an increase of 19 per cent.

The Group continues to enjoy a high asset quality and other robust metrics that remain healthy as a result of strict adherence to maintaining a disciplined and focused approach to lending, recovery and funding. Liquidity and capital positions are comfortable with customer deposit base increasing 6 per cent to Dhs25.17 billion from Dhs23.67 billion. Loans-to-deposits ratio stood at 81 per cent against 82 per cent as of Dec.31, 2020, and cost-to-income ratio at 50 per cent against 29 per cent as of Sept.30, 2020.

The Group’s operations in Lebanon, through its subsidiary Emirates Lebanon Bank SAL continued to witness unprecedented events stemming from political and economic turmoil, since 17 October 2019. The Group has complied with Banque du Liban Circular No. 13129, dated 4 November 2019, calling for the increase by 20 per cent of the equity of Lebanese banks prior to June 30, 2020.

The operating income before impairments and application of hyper inflationary accounting standards of ELBank remains in line with last year’s comparable results.

 The net effect of hyperinflation on the Consolidated Equity for the period ended 30 September 2021 was positive and amounted to Dh 391 million, representing the difference between Dhs1,475 million negative variation on the P&L figures and Dh 1,866 million positive variation on total equity.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published in December 2020 the inflation forecasts. Whereby, the Lebanese economy is considered a hyperinflationary for the purposes of applying IAS 29 and for the retranslation of foreign operations in accordance with IAS 21 and its effects on the condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the period ending Sept.30, 2021.

Accordingly, the financial statements of Emirates Lebanon Bank SAL have been restated by applying a general price index to the historical cost, in order to reflect the changes in the purchasing power of the LBP, on the closing date of the financial statements.

“Despite Covid-19 the Bank performed exceptionally well and delivered positive and eloquent results that under hyperinflation accounting moved from P&L directly to equity. From Board of Directors’ perspective protecting shareholders equity is the most important responsibility,” said Sheikh Mohammed Bin Saud Al Qasimi, Chairman of Bank of Sharjah.

Despite all challenging environments, the Group’s UAE operations demonstrated resilient performance underpinned by the robust fundamentals of the Bank,” he added.