JEDDAH, 5 January 2005 — Riyad Bank has recorded a net profit of SR2 billion ($533.3 million) in 2004, an increase of 26 percent over 2003 net profit of SR1.59 billion, Chairman Rashed Abdulaziz Al-Rashed announced.
The bank, the country’s third-largest listed bank in terms of market capitalization, said in a statement posted on the bank’s website on Monday that it would soon release details about its 2004 performance.
Al-Rashed thanked all the bank staff for their efforts in producing such outstanding results.
Riyad Bank recently announced the increase of its capital up to SR5 billion through granting each shareholder one share for every four shares held. Riyad Bank will distribute an annual dividend of SR18 per share.
After announcing the results in the first nine months of the year earlier, Riyad Bank said assets rose 4.6 percent to SR73.22 billion, loans and advances grew 17.6 percent to SR31.98 billion, and total customer deposits gained 5.7 percent to SR47.48 billion.
Riyad Bank shares were trading at SR608 on Tuesday.
In December, Diebold, Incorporated has signed a deal with Riyad Bank to deploy 100 Diebold Opteva automated teller machines (ATMs) across the bank’s network in a move that underlines the company’s continued growth in the Middle East.
The installations will be maintained and serviced by the Alhamrani Universal Company that has also just reinforced its exclusive distribution agreement with Diebold to extend its commercial reach in Saudi Arabia to other markets in the Gulf, including Dubai, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar.
Riyad Bank is a modern, financial-services company with a strong and growing retail and corporate banking franchise in Saudi Arabia and has a full-service approach, delivered through an accessible network of 200 branches and more than 650 ATMs.
With the expansion of its ATM network, Riyad Bank will now provide its customers with a variety of options for electronic financial transactions (EFTs).
