RIYADH, 8 December — The Saudi British Bank (SABB) has inducted some new faces into its board of directors following the decision of three incumbents not to seek re-election.
The names of the board members were announced by Abdullah Mohammed Al-Hugail, chairman of the board, at a general assembly meeting held at SABB headquarters in Riyadh on Wednesday night.
The three new board members — Sulaiman Abdulkhader Al-Muhaidib, Khalid Sulaiman Olayan and Ahmed Sulaiman Banaja — replace Sulaiman S. Al-Olayan, Omar Abdul Fattah Al-Aggad and Khalifa Al-Molhem who opted out of the electoral fray.
The new board, headed by Al-Hugail, also includes Khalid A. Al-Molhem and Fouad Abdulwahab Bahrawi.
Speaking at the board meeting, the SABB chairman regretted that three of the existing board members did not run for the next term due to personal reasons.
He mentioned Sulaiman Al-Olayan who served as a board member for three consecutive terms during which he placed the bank on a sound footing thanks to his extensive experience which he developed through his global financial connections.
He said another outgoing member, Omar Al-Aggad, served on the board for 23 years during which he extended his unstinted support and cooperation to the bank as it passed through different stages.
The third member, Khalifa Al-Molhem, joined the board in 1987 and headed the audit committee since 1992. During his term the bank benefited from his extensive experience at the Saudi Industrial Fund (SIDF) and from the different banking courses that he attended.
Earlier, Al-Hugail highlighted the bank’s performance. He noted that SABB’s profits had reached SR639 million by the end of the third quarter of 2001, a 14 percent hike over the corresponding period last year.
He also referred to the increase in SABB capital to SR2 billion by issuing a bonus share to the shareholders in fulfillment of a promise given in 1995 to double the bank’s capital.
Al-Hugail said such an achievement would not have been possible without the full cooperation of the board members whose untiring efforts led to SABB becoming one of the most important economic entities.
The bank is 40 percent owned by HSBC Holdings, while the rest is held by Saudi investors.
