Background
Founded in Lebanon in 1962, Bank Audi sal – Audi Saradar Group is a regional Bank with a universal banking profile, covering commercial, retail, private and investment banking activities, in addition to “bancassurance”.

Evolution and Growth
In the mid 90’s, the Bank floated part of its capital through two GDR issues on international markets. The GDR issues, presently listed on the London Stock Exchange, were the first such instrument in the Middle East and marked the first international public equity issues by a Lebanese institution. The capital base was further reinforced in 2001, following the merger with Lebanon Invest company. In 2002, the Bank closed a capital increase of US$ 100 million on local and regional financial markets, through a preferred share issue, consolidating further the Bank’s shareholder base. In 2004, it closed another US$ 100 million preferred share issue and a US$ 60 million capital increase related to the issuance of new common shares dedicated to the shareholders of Banque Saradar sal, one of the top ten banks in Lebanon, in the context of a merger/acquisition transaction. In 2005, Bank Audi accessed international markets yet another time and closed a US$ 100 million preferred share issue. In April 2006, the Bank closed a US$ 600 million capital increase, raising its shareholders’ equity to US$ 1.7 billion, corresponding to 30% of the consolidated shareholders’ equity in the Lebanese sector at large.
In parallel with its market share growth, Bank Audi operates the largest branch network in Lebanon, with 78 licensed branches.
At end-June 2007, total assets of the Bank reached US$ 15.5 billion, reaching US$ 21.2 billion when including assets under management. Customer deposits totaled US$ 13.1 billion, corresponding to a market share of 20.7%. The Bank is currently ranked among the top two banks in Lebanon according to those criteria, and the 25 largest banking groups in the Middle East.

Regional Expansion
A few years ago, Bank Audi engaged in a regional expansion strategy aimed at countries with promising development perspectives, namely in Africa and the Middle East.
Besides Lebanon, it now has operations in France, Switzerland, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, as well as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi (representative office). The prospection for new high-potential regional markets is also underway, with plausible perspectives in North Africa.

Business Lines
Bank Audi has consolidated its universal banking profile, covering a spectrum of banking services:

1. Commercial and retail banking through Bank Audi sal, Bank Audi Saradar France sa, Bank Audi sal - Jordan Branches, Bank Audi Syria sa, Bank Audi sae (Egypt), National Bank of Sudan, and Bank Audi llc (Qatar).
2. Private banking through Audi Saradar Private Bank sal, Banque Audi (Suisse) sa and Bank Audi llc (Qatar).
3. Corporate and Investment banking through Audi Saradar Investment Bank sal and Audi Saudi Arabia.
4. Insurance activities through Libano Arabe Insurance sal and Syrian Arab Insurance sa.

Developments in 2006
- Following the stream of mergers and acquisitions undertaken over the last few years, Bank Audi significantly reinforced its financial flexibility. It closed the largest scale capital increase in the Lebanese banking sector, raising its equities by US$ 600 million, to reach US$ 1.7 billion, the equivalent of 30% of the consolidated equity of Lebanese banks.
- Domestically, a restructuring of the local branch network was undertaken, with a Branch Specialization Project aiming at streamlining operations in Lebanon, and with branches restructured into three main groups: Retail and Personal banking branches, Commercial branches and Corporate branches.
- With respect to technology investments, the Bank invested in a significant upgrade of its Management Information System.
- At the level of customer initiatives, the implementation of Customer Relationship Management tools on the data warehouse significantly enhanced cross selling penetration and revenue generated per customer. The spectrum of retail products and services offered by the Bank was further expanded, to cover 74 products and more than 400,000 accounts, the largest franchise among Lebanese banks. The credit card franchise received a significant boost last year, with a total of 33 different types of cards issued to date, ensuring a market share in card expenditures of 28.3% and a market share in merchant transactions of 25.9% in 2006. Supported by its branch network, the largest in Lebanon (78 branches), retail became one of the most competitive advantages of Bank Audi.
- In parallel to the reinforcement of its domestic franchise, the regional network of the Group was reinforced by five new entities: the acquisition of an Egyptian bank in March, the granting of a license in Saudi Arabia for an investment company in May, the acquisition of 75% of National Bank of Sudan in July, the granting of a license at Qatar Financial Center in December, and the granting of a license for a representative office in Abu Dhabi in September. The Bank is currently present in eight countries in the Middle East, accounting for 47% of the Arab population and 54% of the Arab GDP.
- In the aim of aligning shareholders’ and employees’ interests through creating added incentives for the Bank’s staff to permanently improve performances, Bank Audi launched a first allocation of its new employee stock option plan, the only one in Lebanon and the region, covering 3.2 million shares out of a total of 5 million shares.
- The Bank implemented IFC recommendations for best Corporate Governance practices, and the Board of Directors adopted a comprehensive set of Corporate Governance Guidelines based on international best practice.

Corporate Social Responsibility
In line with its civic role, Bank Audi is deeply convinced that any successful institution has a duty towards the community in which it lives and operates. Driven by a genuine concern for social welfare and development, the Bank has always believed in community service as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility. To materialise its belief, Bank Audi plays a major role in mecenat activities and expends considerable effort in encouraging the blooming of cultural, artistic and natural heritage in Lebanon.
It is within this spirit that Bank Audi sponsored the Seven Summits project undertaken by Lebanese athlete Maxime Chaya who gave true meaning to the Bank’s slogan, “Grow Beyond Your Potential”, and reached the highest peaks of each continent, finishing with the Everest summit on May 23, 2007. With this accomplishment, Bank Audi actively contributed to raise its country’s name to the highest place on earth, proving, once again, that nothing is out of reach and that clear objectives and a strong will to succeed are the key to growing beyond one’s potential.