Saudi Hollandi Bank Q4 net profit up 2.7 percent

Saudi Hollandi Bank Q4 net profit up 2.7 percent

Q4 net up 2.7 pct on lower operating costs; 22.7 pct earning drop from Q3 on lower operating income

January 14, 2012 5:28 by Reuters

Saudi Hollandi Bank said its fourth quarter net profit edged up 2.7 percent on the year to 231 million riyals ($61.6 million) due to a fall in operating expenses, in a statement on Saturday.

However, earnings fell 22.7 percent compared to the third quarter net profit, which the bank attributed to declining operating income, in the statement posted on the bourse website.

Saudi Hollandi Bank, the oldest bank in the world’s top oil exporter, said earnings per share over the 12 months of 2011 were 3.12 riyals, compared to 2.39 in 2010.

The firm, which is partly owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland , is currently the eighth largest bank in the kingdom by market capitalisation.

Total operating profit for the period rose 4 percent to 508 million riyals from 484 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, it said.

Profits from special commissions rose by 2 million riyals to 314 million riyals, while loans and advances rose nearly 8 percent to 37.7 billion riyals, it said.

Assets for the three month period increased nearly 7 percent to 57.5 billion riyals.
Last week, the regulator said Saudi Hollandi Bank had won approval for a capital increase through bonus shares to help support its growth.

The 20-percent increase will will lift the bank’s capital to 3.97 billion riyals.

In other news, Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank (NCB), the country’s biggest lender by assets, posted a 27.3 percent rise in net profit for 2011, it said on Saturday.

State-owned NCB made a net profit of 6 billion riyals ($1.6 billion) in 2011, compared with 4.7 billion riyals the previous year.

“The bank’s strategy to diversify its revenue sources resulted in an increase in revenue from its core operations and a decrease in operating expenses,” NCB’s chairman Abdullah Bahamdan said in an emailed statement.

Operating costs decreased 12.5 percent, the statement said, while banking fee income rose 5.8 percent.

Foreign exchange income climbed 36 percent and net income from special commissions increased 5.3 percent to 8.5 billion riyals, it added. ($1 = 3.7503 Saudi riyals) (Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Firouz Sedarat)