JEDDAH: Al-Rajhi Bank posted a 19.1 percent slump in its fourth-quarter net profit, citing higher costs.

The bank made SR1.55 billion in the three months to December 31, compared with SR1.91 billion in the same period a year earlier, it said in a statement to the Saudi bourse.

The bank cited higher total operating expenses for the drop in profit.

However, it is likely that provisioning makes up for much of the increase in expenses.

Al-Rajhi’s quarterly profit drop came despite modest year-on-year increases in operating income, up 3.2 percent, and income from special commissions, 4 percent higher.

Its profit for full-year 2013 slipped 5.7 percent to SR7.44 billion.

Loans and advances at the end of 2013 stood at SR186.8 billion, gaining 8.7 percent on the end of the pervious year.

Customer deposits at Al-Rajhi stood at SR231.6 billion on December 31, up 4.6 percent on the same point of 2012.