1. Source: Asian Banker Research, Bureau Van Dijk - BANKSCOPE 6 Lebanese banks in the top 10 strongest commercial banks in the Middle East Strength Rank 2011 AB 500 Rank 2011Commercial BankCountry Aggregate Strength Score 2011 128Byblos Invest BankLebanon4.01 243Crédit LibanaisLebanon3.99 332BankmedLebanon3.86 419BLOM BankLebanon3.81 585North Africa Commercial BankLebanon3.68 644National Bank of BahrainBahrain3.61 735Housing Bank for Trade & FinanceJordan3.58 814Bank AudiLebanon3.55 917Awal BankBahrain3.55 1016Ahli United BankBahrain3.54 112National Commercial BankSaudi Arabia3.54 1231FransabankLebanon3.49 1353BBACLebanon3.49 143Qatar National BankQatar3.46 15 Arab Banking CorporationBahrain3.43 1667B.L.C. BankLebanon3.41 175Samba Financial GroupSaudi Arabia3.31 1866Cairo Amman BankJordan3.26 1957Société Générale de Banque au LibanLebanon3.18 2072Lebanon & Gulf BankLebanon3.16 Figure 1. Top 20 Strongest Banks in Middle East (2011)

2. Source: Asian Banker Research, Bureau Van Dijk - BANKSCOPE Awal Bank joins 2 other Bahraini banks in the top 20 largest commercial banks in Middle East AB500 Rank 2011 AB500 Rank 2010Commercial BankCountryAssets ($million) 11Emirates NBDUAE77,935 22National Commercial BankSaudi Arabia75,299 35Qatar National BankQatar61,369 43National Bank of Abu DhabiUAE57,570 54Samba Financial GroupSaudi Arabia49,978 68Abu Dhabi Commercial BankUAE48,542 76Riyad BankSaudi Arabia46,282 87National Bank of KuwaitKuwait45,969 99First Gulf BankUAE38,328 10 Saudi British BankSaudi Arabia33,433 1112Banque Saudi FransiSaudi Arabia32,858 1211Arab BankJordan32,844 13 Arab National BankSaudi Arabia30,943 14 Bank AudiLebanon28,688 15 Arab Banking CorporationBahrain28,105 1617Ahli United BankBahrain26,458 1735Awal BankBahrain25,965 1816MashreqbankUAE23,103 1918BLOM BankLebanon22,344 2019Union National BankUAE22,268 Figure 2. Top 20 Largest Banks in Middle East (2011)

3. Source: Asian Banker Research, Bureau Van Dijk - BANKSCOPE Bahraini Banks were the main drivers of the increase in net profits for the Middle East region Figure 3: Average Net Profit Growth of Middle Eastern Banks (2010)

4. Source: Asian Banker Research, Bureau Van Dijk - BANKSCOPE Even distribution of net profit gains and losses amongst the top 10 largest banks in the Middle East Figure 4: Top 10 Largest Banks Net Profit Growth (2010)

5. Source: Asian Banker Research, Bureau Van Dijk - BANKSCOPE The top 15 banks with the largest %YoY growth in assets come mostly from Lebanon Figure 5: Top 15 Banks with the Largest Growth in Assets (2010)

6. Source: Asian Banker Research, Bureau Van Dijk - BANKSCOPE Loans contributed a mere average 40% of asset growth, as Dubai’s debt restructuring continues to impinge the region Figure 6: Net Loans as a Proportion of Total Assets (%) in the Middle East (2010)

7. Source: Asian Banker Research, Bureau Van Dijk - BANKSCOPE With the exception of Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, ROE of banks grew in 2010 led by Kuwait Figure 7: Top 10 Banks by ROE (%) in the Middle East (2010)

8. Source: Asian Banker Research, Bureau Van Dijk - BANKSCOPE Average ROA for banks operating in all Middle Eastern countries grew in 2010 Figure 8: Top 10 Banks by ROA (%) in the Middle East (2010)

9. Source: Asian Banker Research, Bureau Van Dijk - BANKSCOPE Kuwait saw the highest loan to deposit increase of 26% as banks saw deposits fall, partly due to falling interest rate Figure 9: Loans to Deposits Ratio (%) in the Middle East (2010)

10. Source: Asian Banker Research, Bureau Van Dijk - BANKSCOPE Jordan’s highest cost to income (CIR) ratio in the region was largely attributable to high provisioning for negative developments in countries such as Libya, Tunisia and Egypt Figure 10: Cost to Income Ratio (%) in the Middle East (2010)

11. Source: Asian Banker Research, Bureau Van Dijk - BANKSCOPE UAE experienced the highest increase in NPL ratio of 2.5%, attributed mainly by the exposure to the fragile property market Figure 11: Gross NPL Ratio (%) in the Middle East (2010)

12. Source: Asian Banker Research, Bureau Van Dijk - BANKSCOPE With the exception of Bahrain, banks in the Middle East have managed to limit the increase of operating expenditure to 10%. Figure 12: Average Operating Expenditures of Middle Eastern Banks (2010)

13. Source: Asian Banker Research, Bureau Van Dijk - BANKSCOPE Although operating expenditure correlate with asset size, National Commercial Bank a significantly high Opex due to its inefficient cost management practices such as excessive provisions for NPLs Figure 13: Top 10 Banks with the Highest Operating Expenditures (2010)