International Bank also provides successful first quarter results: earned NIS 287 million

Like other banks, the International Bank also provides successful first quarter results. The bank, managed by Smadar Barber Tzadik, earned NIS 287 million in the first quarter, a growth of 68% compared to the corresponding quarter. The return on capital reached 13% compared to 8% in the corresponding period.
The main factor that boosted the profit was the provision for credit losses: International recorded revenues of NIS 9 million in the first quarter, compared with a negative provision of NIS 157 million in the corresponding quarter.
The shift from a negative provision to income was due to the recovery of the economy from the corona crisis, and the positive situation of borrowers, compared to the predictions regarding the impact of the crisis on the repayment ability of credit recipients. At the same time, International notes that out of NIS 436 million that the bank set aside last year due to the corona crisis, the bank returned only NIS 12 million. This means that if the economy continues to recover, the international will be able to record additional revenues due to the high provisions made in 2020.
The international's optimism about the state of its borrowers is also based on the state of loan deferral. The data show that the debt ratio in the bank, which is in the process of deferring payments due to the corona crisis, constitutes only 0.5% of the total credit portfolio in the bank, which is less than half a billion shekels - the lowest figure among all banks.
The International Bank's credit portfolio grew by 1.4% during the first quarter. Like its competitors, international growth also stood out in mortgages, with a 2.6% increase since the beginning of the year to NIS 29 billion. There was also an increase in consumer credit - an area in which most financial institutions have not yet returned to full recovery, with this international portfolio growing by 1.7% during the first quarter to NIS 21.7 billion. On the other hand, credit to small businesses has fallen by 0.3% since the beginning of the year to NIS 18.8 billion.
Commission revenues fell by 1.9% to NIS 361 million - this erosion is recorded despite the fact that the Bank's main area of ​​activity, the capital market, is growing. Accordingly, income from commissions climbed close to 8%. On the other hand, current income from commissions fell by 12%, and foreign exchange commissions fell by 20% due to the effects of the corona crisis and the third closure.