Saudi’s SABB Q3 Profit Down 28.3% From Q2

Saudi British Bank (SABB) announced that it made a net profit of SAR656 million ($175 million) for the three months ended September 30 2012, a 28.3 per cent drop compared to SAR915 million in Q2 2012.

However, the amount marks an increase of 4.1 per cent compared to SAR630 million in the third quarter of 2011.

The lender also said that it recorded a net profit of SAR2.42 billion for the first nine months of the year, an increase of 8.6 per cent compared to SAR2.23 billion for the same period in 2011.

SABB’s operating income rose 4.3 per cent year-on-year during the period to SAR3.93 billion, while loans and advances increased 18.6 per cent to SAR97.8 billion.

Customer deposits stood at SAR119.7 billion at the end of September, up 18.75 per cent from September 30 2011.

Sheikh Khaled Olayan, chairman of SABB, said: “SABB’s strategy of diversifying its income streams and controlling its costs effectively ensured a strong financial performance for the nine months ended 30 September 2012.

“SABB has continued to focus on booking quality assets and sustaining growth while preserving strong asset quality, capital and liquidity positions.”

The bank’s total assets reached SAR156.2 billion by September 30, 18.4 per cent higher than SAR131.9 billion at the end of September 2011.