RIYADH, 25 December 2003 — The Arab National Bank is to distribute cash dividends of SR11 per share and to grant one bonus share for every nine shares held, subject to the approval of the bank’s general assembly.
Abdullatif Al-Jabr, the bank’s chairman, said the board of directors had made the recommendation to increase the bank’s share capital by SR200 million to SR2,000 million. Al-Jabr also said the board has decided to recommend to the general assembly distributing dividends on a semi-annual basis starting next year.
Al-Jabr said the recommendations were the result of the strong financial performance of the bank in the last few years. During the nine months ending September 2003, the bank’s net profit rose by 30 percent to reach SR589.7 million and net operating income reached SR796.3 million. Total assets at the end of September 2003 stood at SR47.9 billion compared to SR42.9 billion in September 2002.
Al-Jabr said that results for the full year 2003 will be announced in January. During 2003 ANB has won a number of local and international awards.