RIYADH, 9 April 2007 — SABB recently attracted its 100,000th customer for its “Al-Ruwaad Account Package.” A ceremony was held at SABB’s head office in Riyadh to celebrate the event. SABB’s Managing Director John Coverdale and Adel Al-Nasser, deputy managing director, were among those present. Coverdale said that Al-Ruwaad Account Package had nearly doubled its customer base in 2006. “SABB will aim to further improve service quality to SABB’s customer base,” he said, adding that the package has become more than just a suite of products. It has transformed into a mechanism that meets the needs and expectations of targeted customers. Eight benefits are now part of Al-Ruwaad Account Package including the newly introduced free remittance service via SABBNET on an initial payment of SR50 fee per beneficiary account. The package is aimed at middle market customers with average balances in current and/or savings accounts that range between SR3,000 and SR100,000. New eligibility criteria for new non-bank customers were introduced this year. These criteria were opening a current/savings account with a minimum total balance of SR10,000 or transferring a minimum monthly salary of SR6,000.
ANB’s Profits Rise 3.5 Percent
RIYADH, 9 April 2007 — Arab National Bank (ANB) announced a net profit of $171 million for the first quarter of 2007 compared to $166 million for the same period last year, an increase of 3.5 percent. The earning per share went up to $0.38 from $0.37 for the same period of 2006. This increase came as a result of a 5 percent rise in operating income to reach $265 million in 2007 due to an increase of 21 percent in net interest income to $184 million, while fees from banking services decreased by 24 percent to $57 million. Operating expenses increased by 7 percent to $94 million compared to $88 million for the first quarter of 2006. Loans and advances rose by 25 percent to reach $13.44 billion, while customer deposits grew by 19 percent to $16.88 billion. Total assets rose to $21.92 billion and shareholders’ equity reached $2.32 billion, while return on equity reached 31 percent.
Environmental Management Forum
DUBAI, 9 April 2007 — Gulf Research Center (GRC), Dubai, and the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU), Heidelberg, Germany, will organize a training program titled “Environmental Management: Promoting Innovative Ideas for the Gulf Region” from June 18-26, 2007, in Germany. The program will include lectures, case studies and field visits, as well as a workshop. The program, which will be conducted in English, will cover issues such as clean production and technologies, and good housekeeping, life cycle assessment, environmental management and audit scheme of the EU (EMAS), ISO 14000 standard series, Green Dot recycling system, EMS application to energy sector, new EU chemical legislation and its impact on GCC countries, EIA and environmental reporting and waste treatment at the company level.
