JEDDAH, 29 January — Saudi American Bank (SAMBA) has announced an increase in its net income to SR2.25 billion for the year ended Dec. 31, 2001. "This represents an increase of 12 percent over the profits for the year 2000 of SR2.01 billion," SAMBA Managing Director Mike de Graffenried said yesterday.
Earnings per share for the year were SR28.13 compared to SR25.06 for the year 2000. Total operating income for 2001 was SR3.18 billion, a seven percent higher than last year, while operating expenses for the current year totaled SR92.8 million, lower than last year by four percent.
Graffenried commented that SAMBA continued to improve its operating efficiency and ended the year as a very efficient bank, with SR3.1 in revenues for every SR1 in costs. Its annualized return on average assets for the period was 2.9 percent and the return on average equity 26.5 percent. He noted that SAMBA continued to enjoy great balance sheet strength with shareholders’ equity of SR8.4 billion supporting total assets of SR77.2 billion. Loans and advances at Dec. 31, 2001, were up seven percent on last year, with strong growth in the consumer and small business sectors.