The government will not lose control of Banque du Caire after increasing its capital by 20% by offering shares of the bank on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), said the bank’s CEO and Chairperson Mounir El Zahid. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) had announced earlier this year that it will offer a 20% stake in Banque du Caire’s capital on the EGX to stimulate the market and bring liquidity to the bank through an IPO. El Zahid said that the IPO may come at the end of this year or in early 2017. He noted that the government would not lose control of the bank. Banque du Caire serves over 2.8mn clients through 234 branches spread across the country. The bank’s general assembly recently approved a capital increase through injection from retained earnings of EGP650mn, expected to be completed before the end of this year. The paid-in capital will, therefore, increase to EGP2.25bn versus  EGP1.6bn now. Total shareholders’ equity, including reserves, capital and retained earnings, would climb to EGP4bn after the capital hike. Banque du Caire’s 2015 net income was EGP2.02bn, up 59.3% Y-o-Y vs. EGP1.27bn in 2014, according to El-Zahid. Total assets reached EGP91bn in 2015, compared to EGP73bn in 2014. Total loans stood at EGP35.5bn as of end of 2015, up 18% Y-o-Y compared to EGP30.11bn in 2014. Banque du Caire targets loan growth of 10-12% by the end of 2016. While total deposits increased by 22% to EGP78bn in end-2015, up from EGP64bn in 2014. The bank aims to increase its deposit book to EGP94bn in end-2016. (The Daily News Egypt)