Profits of the listed Saudi banks marginally rose by 0.75 percent to SR23.3 billion in the first half of this year, compared to SR23.1 billion in the same period last year, according to a financial report.
Net profits of the Saudi banks in the Q2, 2016, reached SR11.6 billion compared to SR11.98 billion in the same period last year, or a drop of 3.2 percent, local media said in the report.
Capitals of the 12 listed banks stand at SR166.7 billion with their market capitalization worth SR385 billion, or 26.3 percent of the value of Saudi stock market (Tadawul), the report said.
Riyad Bank is the biggest bank in terms of capital at SR30 billion, followed by Samba Financial Group and the National Commercial Bank (NCB) at SR20 billion for each while Bank AlJazira (BAJ) has the lowest capital of SR4 billion, the report stated.
The NCB registered the highest profits of the bank sector at SR5.06 billion in H1, 2016, compared to SR4.96 billion in the same period last year, or an increase of 2.01 percent. Likewise, its profits soared by 3.17 percent in Q2, 2016, to hit SR2.63 billion compared to SR2.36 billion in Q2, 2016, the report said.
Al-Rajhi Bank was the second biggest profit maker of the sector at SR4.06 billion in H1, 2016, compared to SR3.46 billion in H1, 2015, or an increase of 17.6 percent. In Q2, 2016, the bank registered a growth of 5.72 percent, or SR2.05 billion compared to SR1.94 billion in the same period last year, the report said.
Profits of Samba Financial Group (SFG) dropped by 1.41 percent to SR2.57 billion in H1, 2016, compared to SR2.61 billion in the same period last year. The bank’s Q2 profits dropped by 1.41 percent to SR1.31 billion compared to SR1.33 billion in Q2, 2015, according to the report.
The other banks posted varying profits in H1, 2016, compared to figures of H1, 2015, as follows: Riyad Bank SR2.32 billion compared to SR2.30 billion (+0.87 percent), Saudi British Bank (SABB) SR2.29 billion compared to SR2.25 billion (+1.82 percent), Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) SR2.12 billion compared to SR2.06 billion (+3 percent), Arab National Bank (ANB) SR1.56 billion compared to SR1.60 billion (-2.41 percent), and Saudi Hollandi Bank (SHB) SR1.05 billion compared to SR1.07 billion (-2.49 percent), the report said.

Source: Arab News