RIYADH, 4 February 2007 — The Saudi Hollandi Bank (SHB) increased its paid-up capital from SR2.205 billion to SR2.646 billion by capitalizing SR441 million from the bank’s general reserves.
The bank’s board of directors has decided in their meeting held here last Jan. 16 to recommend the capital increase to the extraordinary shareholder general assembly scheduled in March.
The proposal included the distribution of one bonus share for every five shares held, increasing the total number of shares from 220.5 million to 264.6 million shares in addition to the ratification of the interim dividends paid in August 2006 after obtaining the approvals of the regulatory authorities.
SHB also announced last week that it posted net profits of SR952.8 million in 2006 compared to SR1.051.8 billion in the preceding year.
Managing Director Giel-Jan van der Tol confirmed the bank’s strong financial position and explained that the operating profit increased by 13 percent while the annual net result was impacted by a one-off credit provisioning in the second quarter of 2006. Adjusted for this provision, 2006 net profit would have shown a 17.4 percent increase vis-a-vis the previous year. “The bank’s total assets at the year-end increased by 17 percent to reach SR46.7 billion compared with SR39.9 billion for 2005, mainly attributable to loans and advances to customers that grew by 11.4 percent from SR23.8 billion to SR26.5 billion. Customer deposits also grew by 13.4 percent reaching SR32.4 billion until Dec. 31, 2006 compared to SR28.5 billion against the same period of the previous year, while the bank’s investment portfolio, which is comprised of financial instruments denominated in Saudi riyals and US dollars increased by 0.2 percent to SR10.46 billion.
Earnings per share at the year-end was SR4.32 compared to SR4.77 for 2005, while return on equity was 24.03 percent (2005: 31.00 percent) and return on assets recorded 2.20 percent (2005: 2.87 percent).
