Bank Hapoalim defied the current trend of Israeli banks, who have recorded ever growing profits, by reporting a drop in profits. Hapoalim reported profits of NIS 871 million for the second quarter of 2019, which was down from 2018. The bank’s return on equity dropped from 10.52% in the second quarter of 2018 to 9.26% in Q2 of 2019. This is the lowest return on equity of all the major banks in Israel.
The bank’s income from regular activity was NIS 2.57 billion, which represents a 4.1% increase. For the full half of the year the bank’s profits were NIS 1.69 billion up 9%. However, last year, the bank had set aside funds to pay for its legal difficulties in the US. As of July 1, the bank had lent NIS 288.6 billion to the public. This sum is up 2.8% since the end of 2018. In its
