Gulf banks: Saudi Arabia and Qatar spread their wings - FT.com

Of all the Gulf’s Islamic banks, one stands out in the crowd.

Al Rajhi has quietly emerged as one of the world’s largest sharia-compliant lenders and has maintained slow but steady growth.

Against a backdrop of improved lending conditions in Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, the Riyadh-based bank reported a year-on-year increase in third-quarter profits of 18 per cent.

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