MENA banks hit 20% growth rate

by Purwa Naveen Raman Tuesday, 10 June 2008

Banks in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have been a key beneficiary of the ongoing investment spree in the region and banking balance sheets are expanding at an annual rate of 20 percent or more, leading in turn to strong revenue growth, according to EFG-Hermes.

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EFG's MENA banks coverage extends to 30 stocks across six countries and includes Abu Dhabi's First Gulf Bank, Qatar's Commercial Bank of Qatar, Saudi Arabia's Arab National Bank and Egypt's National Societe Generale Bank.
From a short-term perspective, loan growth in the GCC is being further boosted by sharply falling US dollar rates, the investment bank said in a research note.

Among the non-GCC countries, EFG expects the strongest loan growth momentum in Egypt, where corporate loan growth has only recently started to accelerate.

From a fundamental perspective, EFG said its preferred country within the GCC is Qatar, due to the strong momentum in investments and overall economic growth, followed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait.

The investment bank said it prefers Egypt, followed by Morocco and Lebanon, among the non-GCC countries. (Reuters)



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