JEDDAH, 16 April 2005 — The National Commercial Bank’s (NCB) net profit rose by 30.4 percent to SR1.217 billion in the first quarter of this year compared to its profit over the same period in 2004.
NCB Chairman and Managing Director Abdullah Bahamdan said the bank’s net operating income also grew by 35 percent to reach SR1.263 billion compared to SR936 million last year.
Shareholders’ equity grew by 33 percent to SR15.160 billion by the end of March, thus reinforcing its strong capital adequacy ratio, the chairman said.
The NCB, the Kingdom’s largest in terms of capital, realized the biggest profit of SR3.53 billion in 2004, with an SR518 million increase compared to 2003.
The bank maintained its high profitability ratios in the first quarter of 2005 as the return on average assets rose by 3.7 percent while the return on average equity grew by 33.6 percent, and earnings per share improved by 30.4 percent to SR10.1.
Bahamdan attributed the excellent financial results to the strong level of trust that NCB has earned from its customers, whose deposits have grown to SR103.458 billion, an increase of 8.3 percent compared to last year.
“Net loans and advances have continued their rise to reach SR66.095 billion, projecting a 33.1 percent increase over their level on March 31, last year,” the chairman pointed out.
Bahamdan commended the efforts of NCB’s management and staff to raise the level of service to its clients and to improve its products. He also expressed his deep gratitude to the bank’s clients, shareholders and affiliates for their continued support.
Last year, the Kingdom’s 10 commercial banks posted a combined profit of SR14.7 billion, registering a 59.7 percent rise compared to their performance in 2003 when their profits totaled SR9.2 billion.
