RIYADH, 22 January 2008 — Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corp, the largest Gulf Arab bank by market value, said net profit fell 24.2 percent in the fourth-quarter to SR1.58 billion ($420.3 million. Excluding exceptional profit reported in 2006, the bank’s fourth-quarter net was up 9.3 percent from the same period in 2006, Rajhi said in a statement. The bank made a net profit of SR2.08 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006. It was the first time Al-Rajhi shows a quarter-to-quarter decline in profit since March, 2007. The fourth-quarter profit was also its weakest since December 2006, when the local bourse was in the midst of a crash. Like the other lenders, Al-Rajhi blamed the underperformance on declining revenues from brokerage activity. The bank said net profit reached SR6.45 billion, or SR4.78 per share, in 2007, down 11.7 percent from 2006, when it was SR5.41 per share. Excluding exceptional profits, net profit in 2007 was down 3.1 percent. “This is due to decrease on brokerage income in the Saudi bourse, since both volumes of transactions and commission percentages declined, in addition to competition to cut them (brokerage commissions),” it said. Net banking income rose 13.1 percent to SR7.72 billion.
NCB Net Income Falls 3.8% in 2007
RIYADH, 22 January 2008 — The National Commercial Bank (NCB) achieved net income of SR6,038 million in 2007, down 3.8 percent from the preceding year, the bank said in a statement yesterday. Sheikh Abdalla Bahamdan, bank chairman, said net income without capital gains (loss) reached SR6,053 million for 2007 compared to SR5,641 million for 2006, an increase of SR412 million or 7.3 percent. Total assets increased by 34 percent to SR208,717 million, net loans and advances by 13.7 percent to SR87,854 million, and customer deposits by 21.6 percent to SR142,825 million as at the year end of 2007. He also pointed out that the bank’s total shareholders’ equity (excluding final proposed dividend) grew by 17.4 percent to SR28,181 million and that the ratio of equity to assets stood at a robust 13.5 percent. Return on average assets and return on average equity (excluding final proposed dividend) reached 3.3 percent and 23.1 percent respectively, while earnings per share reached SR4.01. The total net proposed dividend for 2007 is SR2,400 million at rate of SR1.6 per share.
BSF Profit Rises 10 Percent in Q4
RIYADH, 22 January 2008 — Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) fourth-quarter profit in 2007 rose 10 percent. BSF, in which France’s Credit Agricole owns 31.1 percent, made SR640.5 million ($170.8 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, the lowest quarterly profit since 2006 when a stock market crash eroded revenues, the bank said in a statement. Saudi Fransi reported a net profit of SR582.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. “Excluding the decline in brokerage revenues, the bank managed to achieve an increase in operating income from all activities with a growth of 16 percent,” it said. Full-year profit fell 9.8 percent to SR2.71 billion in 2007, its lowest since 2005.
Almarai Profit Jumps 48.4 Percent in Q4
RIYADH, 22 January 2008 — Saudi Arabia’s Almarai Co, the Gulf’s largest dairy company by market value, said fourth-quarter profit surged 48.4 percent on higher international sales and after it bought two bakeries. Net income in the three months to Dec. 31 was SR193.1 million ($51.5 million), compared with SR130.2 million in the year-earlier period, Almarai said in a statement on the bourse website.
