Samba Financial Second-Quarter Profit Declines 1.6% - BusinessWeek

Samba Financial Group, the second largest bank in Saudi Arabia by market value, said second- quarter profit declined 1.6 percent on lower commission income.

Net income for the quarter ended June 30 dropped to 1.22 billion riyals ($325 million), from 1.24 billion riyals in the year-earlier period, the Riyadh-based bank said in a statement on the Saudi bourse website today. The average estimate of five analysts was for a profit of 1.17 billion riyals, according to Bloomberg data.

Increased provisions for bad loans and tightened lending hurt earnings at Saudi banks since the global credit crisis and an economic slowdown. Saudi British Bank, 40 percent owned by HSBC Holdings Plc, reported a 34 percent decline in second- quarter profit today. Riyad Bank, the third largest in the kingdom by market value, and Arab National Bank also posted declines in second-quarter profit.