Something odd happened to AAA rated Dutch co-operative Rabobank last year: its profits grew by 13% rather than 12%. To those of us accustomed to volatile earnings, this seems like a variance hardly worth mentioning. But Rabo’s earnings growth has stood at 12% minus or plus a basis point or two for a century, so 13% is out of the ordinary.
A consortium including Goldman Sachs won the mandate for a strategic review and IPO execution for Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank. A tight schedule for US distribution and a political/religious row that spilled volatility into the Istanbul stock market failed to derail the sale. Edward Russell-Walling reports.
The syndicated loans market has grown rapidly in recent years, driven primarily by an increase in corporate takeovers, private equity transactions and infrastructure deals. Strong liquidity means there is plenty of cash to invest, and banks are willing lenders. Joanne Hart reports.
The Banker collects cost/income ratio data from banks as a measure of efficiency among banks across the globe. While methodology among banks across regions varies and what is included can differ, we are attempting to provide a global picture of the measure.
Philippine National Bank maintains the highest disclosed non-performing loans (NPL) ratio in the Top 1000, at 51.63%, and Egypt’s Bank of Alexandria, the country’s sixth largest bank, has come in second with 26.07%. With three banks in the top 10 disclosed NPLs from Lebanon, led by Fransabank (24.71%), the Lebanese authorities are keen to maintain high levels of disclosure.