JEDDAH: Saudi British Bank (SABB) has posted a 0.6 percent drop in fourth-quarter net profit.

The bank, an affiliate of HSBC Holdings, made a profit of SR969.4 million ($258.3 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, according to a bourse statement. This compares with a profit of SR975.5 million in the same period a year earlier.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters on average forecast the bank would make a quarterly profit of SR1.04 billion.

The bank attributed its drop in net profit to a rise in operating expenses.

SABB’s net profit for 2014 was SR4.27 billion, up 13 percent on 2013, which it attributed to higher operating income.

The bank in December recommended a cash dividend of SR1.05 per share for 2014, slightly higher than the 1 riyals per share it paid for 2013.

Loans and advances at the end of December stood at SR115.22 billion, gaining 8.6 percent from a year earlier, while deposits rose 5 percent to 145.87 billion riyals over the same period.