Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) posted a third quarter profit 18% higher than in the corresponding quarter of 2024, at NIS 2.7 billion. The bank, headed by Hanan Friedman, made an annualized return on equity of 16.3%, which compares with 15.5% in the corresponding quarter. Following the removal of restrictions on dividends by the Bank of Israel, it declared a dividend of NIS 2 billion, 75% of its quarterly profit, and the highest routine dividend ever paid by an Israeli bank. The dividend will be paid NIS 1.5 billion in cash and the rest in the form of a buyback of the bank’s shares.
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The bank, Israel’s largest by market cap, continues to present a strong efficiency ratio, at 27% (the lower the ratio, the better the bank’s efficiency). Its credit portfolio grew by 8.8% in the first nine months of the year.
Non-performing loans amounted to 0.41% of the bank’s credit portfolio in the third quarter of this year, down from 0.52% in the corresponding quarter. On commercial loans, the percentage fell from 0.57% to 0.35%, while on housing loans it rose from 0.4% to 0.49%.
Bank Leumi’s net interest income totaled NIS 4.47 billion in the third quarter of this year, 1.6% less than in the corresponding quarter. In the first nine months, net interest income totaled NIS 13 billion, 2.7% more than in the corresponding period. The bank explained that this was thanks to growth in its credit portfolio, partly offset by a narrowing of interest rate spreads.
Other good news for the bank came from its investment in Valley Bank in the US. It recorded a gain of NIS 275 million in the first nine months of this year, versus a loss of NIS 378 million in the corresponding period.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on November 18, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
