The net profit of the five largest banks in Israel jumped in the first half of 2022 by 15.9% to NIS 11.12 billion. This is evident from the summary of the banks’ activities. In the second quarter of 2022, the banks earned NIS 5.41 billion. Bank Leumi under the management of Hanan Friedman together with the chairman of the board Samer Haj Yahya earned in the half of 2022 NIS 3.6 billion, which is a return of 17.1% on equity. This is the highest profit and the second highest return on capital after Bank Mizrahi (20.6%).
The bank ended the second quarter with a profit of NIS 2 billion. The bank will distribute a cash dividend of NIS 400 million to its shareholders. The increase is explained by one-time income (from the sale of real estate assets and the bank in the USA) and also from current banking activities. The efficiency ratio reached 40% in half of 2022. On April 1, 2022, the merger between Leumi USA and Valley National was completed. Following the merger, the bank recorded a net profit of NIS 645 million – of which NIS 194 million was in the first quarter.
As part of the preparations to complete the move of the bank’s headquarters to Lod in 2023, the bank sold Beit Mani in Tel Aviv in April. This sale is expected to yield the bank a pre-tax capital gain of approximately NIS 524 million, which will be recorded in 2023. Interest income increased by 23% to NIS 5.8 billion thanks to the increase in the credit portfolio, index differences between the comparison periods and the increase in interest rates. Leumi’s equity amounts to NIS 47.1 billion, and is NIS 3 billion higher than Bank Hapoalim’s capital, which stands at NIS 44 billion.
The International Bank ended the first half of 2022 with a profit of NIS 664 million and the second quarter with a profit of NIS 342 million. The bank managed by Smadar Barber-Tsadik will distribute a dividend of NIS 170 million in addition to the NIS 540 million dividend distributed this year.
Barber-Tzadik said: “Profitability reflects growth, which results from an increase in the bank’s current activity in a variety of areas, with an emphasis on the area of customer money management and credit growth, and while maintaining the bank’s stability and proportionate risk profile.”