JEDDAH: Al-Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s largest listed lender, posted a 3.2 percent drop in its third-quarter net profit, it said in a bourse statement.

The bank said it made SR1.66 billion ($442.6 million) in the three months ending September 30, compared with SR1.71 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Ten analysts surveyed by Reuters expected the bank to post an average net profit of SR1.9 billion for the quarter.

The decrease was the fifth straight drop in quarterly profit posted by the bank, which it attributed to an increase in total operating expenses.

The bank’s performance has been hit in recent quarters by higher provisioning and higher operating expenses.

Operating income for the quarter rose by 0.9 percent on the corresponding period of 2013 to SR3.4 billion, while profits from special commissions decreased 1.1 percent over the same timeframe to SR2.4 billion.

Loans and advances at the end of September stood at SR203.6 billion, gaining 9.8 percent on the same point of 2013, while deposits rose 10.9 percent to SR250 billion over the same period.