Investors sold shares of Arab National Bank (ANB) after the Saudi lender announced a 7.4 per cent decline in profits for the first quarter because of the increased operating expenses.
Net income fell to 587 million riyals, from 634m riyals in the same period last year. Earnings per share for the quarter was 0.69 riyals, down 9 per cent from last year.
Relatively low interbank borrowing rates in Saudi Arabia, known as Sibor, has hurt the profitability of banks across the kingdom as net interest income has declined, said Faisal al Azmeh, an analyst at NCB Capital in Riyadh. Three-month Sibor is at 0.75 per cent.
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