Covid-19 dents Credit Agricole Egypt annual profits

Credit Agricole Egypt’s net income plunged more than 42% in 2020 as the covid-19 pandemic weighed on income and caused a deterioration in the quality of its loan book. The bank booked a EGP 1.36 bn profit last year, down from EGP 2.36 bn in 2019, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf) released yesterday. The economic crisis and rate cuts caused its net banking income to fall more than 10% to EGP 3.64 bn, while loan impairments grew by EGP 558 mn due to what it described as “covid-19’s negative impact on risk portfolio.”