Banque du Caire Net Profit Rises 4.7% to $246M in First Nine Months of 2026

Banque du Caire reported consolidated net profit of EGP 13.1 billion ($246 million) for the first nine months of 2026, up 4.7% from the same stretch a year earlier. The Egyptian lender published the figures on Wednesday.

Stripping out three items booked in 2025 that will not repeat, profit grew about 19%. Those items were the benefit the bank drew from an interest-free subordinated loan it repaid in December 2025, together with dividend income and foreign exchange gains tied to an investment it formerly held in the African Export-Import Bank.

Core revenue for the nine months reached EGP 33.7 billion ($633 million), 10.8% higher, as lending and fee-generating business both expanded. Operating income advanced 10.5% to EGP 34.6 billion ($648 million).

The balance sheet grew faster than earnings. Total assets stood at EGP 600.9 billion ($11.3 billion) at the end of September, 11.2% above the December 2025 mark. Customer deposits rose 17% to EGP 473.5 billion ($8.9 billion), and gross loans to customers and banks were 11.3% higher at EGP 287.4 billion ($5.4 billion).

Lending growth was split between the two main books. Corporate loans increased 12% year on year to EGP 118.4 billion ($2.2 billion) over the nine months, while retail lending added 10.2% to reach EGP 102.4 billion ($1.9 billion). Retail customers supply 74% of the deposit base. Corporate deposits climbed 38.1% from December to EGP 80.8 billion ($1.5 billion), and current and savings accounts lifted their share of total deposits to 52.7% from 51.4%.

The third quarter moved the other way. Net profit for the three months fell 19.5% to EGP 4.2 billion ($78.2 million) from EGP 5.2 billion ($97.2 million) a year earlier, even though core revenue rose roughly 10% to EGP 11.5 billion ($216 million) from EGP 10.5 billion ($196.1 million). Expected credit loss charges for the quarter jumped about 68% to EGP 1.1 billion ($20.4 million) from EGP 647.1 million ($12.1 million).

Over the full nine months, provisioning moved the opposite way. Credit loss charges dropped 44% year on year to EGP 2.1 billion ($39.5 million), and the cost of risk halved to 1.03% from 2.09%. The non-performing loan ratio held at 3.7% on September 30, level with December 2025. Provision coverage slipped to 173.1% from 182.9%.

Capital ratios strengthened modestly. The capital adequacy ratio reached 22.2% from 22.1%, and Tier 1 capital rose to 18.7% from 18.4%. Net interest margin widened to 7.2% from 7.1%. Annualised return on average equity came in at 26.3%, down from 33%.

Administrative expenses grew 18% to EGP 12.4 billion ($233 million), spending the bank links to core banking modernisation, digital transformation and other strategic projects. The cost-to-income ratio consequently moved to 36% from 33.7%.

Founded in 1952, Banque du Caire runs retail, corporate, SME and microfinance banking in Egypt and consolidates Cairo Bank Uganda, Cairo Lending Company, Taly for Digital Payments and Cairo Exchange.

The results land weeks after the bank's shares began trading on the Egyptian Exchange in November, following an offering that raised about EGP 36.4 billion ($682 million), the largest initial public offering in the exchange's history, according to the Central Bank of Egypt. The sale covered 6.9 billion shares, equal to 45% of capital, priced at EGP 5.3 ($0.099) each. Banque Misr retains 55%; the rest is free float. At 1:27 PM AST on November 11, the stock traded at EGP 5.9 ($0.11), implying a market value near EGP 89.4 billion ($1.7 billion) on 15.3 billion shares.

For a lender that has just handed 45% of itself to outside shareholders, the quarter carries more weight than the nine-month total. The surge in third-quarter provisions shows how fast cost of risk can move earnings even while revenue keeps climbing, and the 26.3% return on equity, high as it is, has already come down from 33%. The bank now has to keep deposit growth and asset quality pulling in the same direction.