Commercial International Bank (CAI:COMI.CA, Financial), in Egypt, continued to plow ahead despite the impact of COVID-19. Pre-provision profits grew more than 13%, NPLs are three times covered and the bank's capital adequacy ratio is among the highest in the world at 31%! Despite this, the shares are trading at 8 times earnings which is the lowest since the Arab Spring. Hisham Ezz El Arab retired after an unbelievable run at the bank for over 20 years. Under his management book value and earnings per share compounded by over 20% per annum and the bank did not raise capital once! We wish Hisham the best in his retirement. Hisham has left the bank in good hands with Hussein Abaza, who has been with the bank for 30 years, at the helm.
From Prem Watsa (Trades, Portfolio)'s 2020 annual shareholder letter.
