Bank Hapoalim reports record NIS 6.5 billion net profit in 2022

Bank Hapoalim, one of Israeli’s largest lenders, posts a record net profit of NIS 6.5 billion ($1.82 billion) in 2022 as interest rates soar, fueling total income.

Net profit in 2022 rose 33% to NIS 6.5 billion from NIS 4.9 billion the previous year. Total income last year rose by 24.5% from 2021, boosted by the rise in interest rates and higher inflation, Hapoalim says in a statement.

The Bank of Israel has steadily hiked the benchmark interest rate from a low of 0.1% last April as it battles rising inflation, last raising its key lending rate by 50 basis points to 4.25 percent in February.

Hapoalim’s credit portfolio grew by 10.2% for the full year of 2022. Net interest income in 2022 jumped 37% versus the previous year.

“2022 began with deceleration of global economic activity, due to the war in Ukraine, and continued with mounting local and global uncertainty fueled by rising inflation and interest rates, in Israel and worldwide,” says Bank Hapoalim President and CEO Dov Kotler. “The Israeli economy continued to demonstrate its resilience, even during a time of growing uncertainty.”

“Over the last year, we continued the responsible growth of our credit portfolio, particularly in corporate and commercial credit and in housing loans, and helped our customers cope with increased mortgage payments,” Kotler adds.

Net profit in the fourth quarter of 2022 almost doubled to NIS 1.75 billion from NIS 934 million during the same period last year. The results were driven by the “continuous growth in business activity and a high contribution of the increase in central bank rates, as well as a high contribution of the CPI,” Hapoalim says.