Al Rajhi, Samba Ratings Raised at S&P (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

Standard & Poor’s raised the credit ratings of Saudi Arabia’s two largest publically traded lenders Al Rajhi Bank and Samba Financial Group one grade to A+, citing strong liquidity and capitalization.

Al Rajhi’s upgrade was due to “its unique market position in the Saudi retail market, increasingly diversified loan book, strong and resilient profitability, and growth strategy with solid capital ratios,” S&P credit analyst Nicolas Hardy said in an e-mailed report.

“Samba’s financial profile has continued to strengthen on support from a resilient financial performance, solid capitalization, and strong funding and liquidity indicators,” hardy wrote in the report.