Saudi National Bank, the biggest lender in Saudi Arabia by assets, reported a 17 per cent jump in its second-quarter net profit as provisions for bad loans fell and income from its financing portfolio rose amid continued economic momentum.
Net income for the three months to the end of June climbed to 6.13 billion Saudi riyals ($1.6 billion), the bank said in a regulatory filing on Monday to the Tadawul bourse, where its shares are traded.
Total income from commissions at the end of the period jumped 4 per cent to 11.57 billion riyals.
The rise in quarterly income was also supported by a “10.4 per cent increase in special commission income from investments portfolio”, SNB said.
Total operating profit climbed 6.6 per cent to 9.51 billion riyals during the reporting period.
Banks in Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s biggest economy, are benefiting from robust economic momentum despite global headwinds and geopolitical turbulence in the wider Middle East.
The economy of the world’s leading oil producer is forecast to grow 3.5 per cent this year, and 3.9 per cent in 2026, amid the rapid unwinding of crude production caps, the International Monetary Fund said in June.
“Saudi Arabia’s economy has demonstrated strong resilience to shocks, with non-oil economic activities expanding, inflation contained, and unemployment reaching record-low levels,” the IMF said at the time.
The kingdom has been diversifying its economy away from oil with an emphasis on the development of sectors including financial services, capital markets technology, health, education, infrastructure and tourism as part of Vision 2030.
The higher interest rate regime for longer is also supporting profitability of regional lenders. Currencies of most Gulf economies, with the exception of Kuwait, are pegged to the US dollar and Gulf central banks mostly mimic the Federal Reserve moves on interest rates. The Fed has kept the interest rates steady over the past few quarters, despite pressure from the White House to reduce the policy rate.
SNB said the kingdom's economic growth has been reflected in its six-month performance as well.
The lender’s net profit for the January-June period rose by more than 18 per cent to 12.16 billion riyals while total comprehensive income jumped by about 50 per cent on an annual basis to 13 billion riyals.
Assets at the end of the reporting period rose by 10.4 per cent on an annual basis to 1.2 trillion riyals. SNB’s loans and advances portfolio increased by more than 12 per cent annually to 714.83 billion riyals.
Customer deposits increased by about 4 per cent during the six-month period to 658.67 billion riyals.
