The effect of the war are very apparent in the banks’ third quarter financials, and Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) alone made a provision for credit losses that amounts to a third of the total provisions of the five major banks in the quarter - NIS 991 million. Nevertheless, it still posted the highest quarterly profit among the banks, of NIS 1.77 billion.
This is very close to the profit for the corresponding quarter last year, but lower than the profit in the second quarter of this year. For the first nine months of 2023, the banks net profit totals NIS 5.2 billion, which compares with NIS 5.38 billion for the corresponding period of 2022.
As with the other banks, Bank Leumi’s provision for credit losses in the third quarter is almost all an addition to the bank’s general provision, and does not relate to specific loans.
Because of the uncertainty on the markets arising from the war, and the Bank of Israel’s instructions to the banks to act prudently on dividends, Bank Leumi has cut its quarterly dividend to 20% of net profit, at NIS 353 million. This too is in line with the policies of the other banks.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 29, 2023.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.