Definition
The cost of risk is the charge a bank books on loans it may not recover. It is the line «provisions and the result of value adjustments on loans, off-balance-sheet items and liabilities».
It sits below net banking income. It is often what separates a good commercial half-year from a good result.
The two measures
The amount alone compares nothing. Two ratios make banks comparable:
- cost of risk over net banking income, which says what share of the half-year's income it consumes;
- cost of risk over average customer loans, annualised, which says what risk costs for each dinar lent.
The two are read together. A high ratio to net banking income can come from a loan book that is losing value fast. It can also come from modest income set against a large loan book. The ratio to loans settles which.
Where to read it in Tunisian financial statements
Bank financial statements follow the Tunisian accounting standards NCT 21 to 25. Two lines are enough:
- PR5/CH4, in the income statement, for the cost of risk;
- AC3, «customer loans», in the balance sheet, at the start and end of the half-year, for the average loan book.
Three reading traps
First trap: a low cost of risk does not, on its own, mean a healthy loan book. Provision write-backs can lighten it in a given half-year. Its trend matters as much as its level. Section 4 of the Readings note sets the first half of 2025 alongside.
Second trap: provisions on the investment portfolio are not in it. They are a separate line of the income statement.
Third trap: over a half-year, the ratio to loans has to be annualised. It is multiplied by 2 here, as an indication.
The 10 banks covered in the first half of 2026
Banks are listed alphabetically, amounts in TND million:
| Bank | Cost of risk (TND m) | Cost of risk / net banking income | Cost of risk / average loans, annualised |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amen Bank | 57.8 | 15.9% | 1.53% |
| ATB | 68.6 | 36.7% | 2.68% |
| Attijari Bank | 22.0 | 5.9% | 0.63% |
| BH Bank | 146.7 | 42.4% | 2.84% |
| BIAT | 17.9 | 2.2% | 0.27% |
| BNA | 100.3 | 17.9% | 1.38% |
| BT | 29.3 | 10.0% | 0.89% |
| STB | 131.4 | 41.9% | 3.03% |
| UBCI | 11.3 | 5.8% | 0.60% |
| UIB | 25.4 | 9.3% | 0.78% |
Out of scope: BTE (preferred dividend shares) and Wifak International Bank (an Islamic bank).
Cost of risk takes from 2.2% to 42.4% of net banking income depending on the bank. Across the 10 banks combined, it absorbs 16.5%. Over average loans, it ranges from 0.27% to 3.03% a year.
Key points
- Cost of risk = provisions and value adjustments on loans, line PR5/CH4.
- Over net banking income, it is the share of income consumed; over loans, what each dinar lent costs.
- The two measures are read together, and over more than one half-year.
Sources: interim individual financial statements at 30 June 2026 published with the Conseil du marché financier (CMF), notes included. The brief's data (CSV), with their conventions.