#Saudi National Bank Q2 net profit up 9%, beating estimate | Reuters

Saudi National Bank Q2 net profit up 9%, beating estimate | Reuters

Saudi National Bank (SNB) (1180.SE) on Tuesday reported a 9.3% jump in net profit for the second quarter compared with the prior-year period, on higher operating income and a fall in provisions for bad loans.

The kingdom's biggest lender by assets made a net profit of 5 billion riyals ($1.33 billion) in the second quarter, beating a mean analysts' estimate of 4.9 billion riyals according to Refinitiv data.

"Growth in net income attributable to equity holders of the Bank...(was) driven by higher operating income along with lower operating expenses, including net impairment charge for expected credit losses," a company statement to the Saudi stock exchange said.

Provisions for credit losses fell 87% year-on-year in the quarter to 76 million riyals, supporting a 14% decrease in total operating expenses to 2.7 billion riyals, the statement said, while total operating income grew 2%.

SNB, which saw a 70% fall in the carrying value of its investment in Swiss lender Credit Suisse in the first quarter, has previously said there would be no impact of the decline in equity on its income statement.

Net profit in the first six months of 2023 was up 10.4% over the same period a year ago, with operating income almost 5% higher year-on-year.

Loans and advances grew 7.7% in the first half, while deposits grew 1.6%; however customer deposits are up 6% year to date from the end of December, the bank said.