Followed by QNB of Qatar, NBK of Kuwait and UAE's NBAD
Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Bank maintained its position for the second year running as the largest Gulf bank by market capitalization while banks from Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE were among the fourth largest, according to a regional bank.
At the end of 2012, Al Rajhi's market capitalization stood at around $25.9 billion while Qatar National Bank (QNB) had the second largest cap of $25.58 billion, Kuwaiti-based Global Investment House (GIH) said in a study.
National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) was the largest bank in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with a market cap of $14.7 billion at the end of 2012.
It was followed by government-controlled National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), which had a cap of around $12.65 billion, the report showed.
Abu Dhabi-based First Gulf Bank came fifth with about $10.9 billion, followed by Saudi American Bank Group (SAMBA) with nearly $10.8 billion.
The 7th largest GCC bank was Riyadh Bank with a cap of $9/1 billion while Saudi British Bank came 8th with $8.9 billion. Kuwait Finance House and Banque Saudi Fransi were ranked 9th and 10th, with a cap of $8.2 billion and $7.3 billion respectively.
According to GIH, GCC banks appeared to be opening up their coffers after a few years of slackening lending activity in the wake of the 2008 global fiscal distress, with their combined credit growing by around 14 per cent year-on-year to $590 billion.
It said the increase supported the banks' non-interest income (NII) as interest spreads declined 7bps YoY during the fourth quarter for banks covered by the study.
Loan book growth remained strong across markets, with Qatar witnessing the highest increase at 26.5% YoY, followed by Kuwait (19.2%) and Saudi Arabia (15.0%).
"The growth in loan book for Qatar-based banks was due to a significant increase in public sector spending in the run up to the 2022 Soccer World Cup," GIH said.
"However, growth in loan book for the UAE-based banks remained subdued at 4.3% YoY during the quarter," it added.
Despite strong growth in loan book, NII of GCC banks increased just 2.5% YoY, as interest spreads remained under pressure, the report said.
© Emirates 24|7 2013
