Gulf Bank loses $20m as loan provisions climb

Kuwait's Gulf Bank made a net loss of 5.9 million dinars (Dh75.32 million) in the second quarter after the bank raised first-half provisions for loans to defaulting Saudi Arabian borrowers.

The lender did not identify the borrowers in a statement announcing its results yesterday, but said it had booked 58.6 million dinars in provisions in the first half of the year without giving a figure for the second quarter.

Regulators and bankers are grappling with the fallout from a multi-billion dollar debt restructuring at the two large Saudi family businesses, Saad Group and Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers, seen as the biggest blow to hit the Middle East since the start of the global financial crisis.