Saudi banks, often viewed as a benchmark for the region, have been struggling to shrug off the overhang from the 2008 financial crisis, and have been hit in particular by the more than $20 billion in loan defaults by the two family-owned businesses of Saad and Al-Gosaibi.
But despite the relentless Arabian summer heat, the latest reports on second quarter earnings sent investors into the weekend with arguably something to cheer about.
Heavyweight banks broadly met or exceeded market expectations, with the country’s largest lender, Al-Rajhi Bank, posting a SAR 1.843 billion ($491.5 million) net income, marking a 3.6 percent increase over the same period last year. NCB Capital maintained an ‘Overweight’ rating, with a target price of SAR 84.9, a more conservative estimate than the ‘outperform’, SAR 97 by Credit Suisse.
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