RIYADH: Al-Rajhi Bank, the Gulf’s biggest Islamic lender by market value, posted a lower-than-expected 3.2 percent rise in its fourth quarter net profit.
Al-Rajhi made SR1.47 billion ($392 million) in the three months to end-December compared to SR1.42 billion in the same period a year ago, the bank said in a statement on Saturday. It was Al-Rajhi’s lowest quarterly net profit in the year and below analysts’ expectations that ranged between SR1.61 billion and SR1.96 billion.
Saudi banks more than tripled provisions against loan losses over the first nine months of 2009 to SR6.04 billion.
Al-Rajhi almost doubled its provisions to SR1.3 billion over the same period. Net profit from lending — which the Islamic lender calls net profit from financing and investment — rose to SR2.2 billion during the fourth quarter.
That was also the lowest since the start of 2009, but up 2.1 percent from a year earlier.
Operating income rose 3 percent to SR2.75 billion.
Total loans reached SR149 billion by end-2009 up from 5.7 percent from end-2008 and SR144.1 billion by end-September, 2009 while deposits rose to 3.4 percent in 2009 to SR121 billion down from SR123 billion by end-September, 2009.