Banque Saudi Fransi profits fall in Q2, H1 on higher operating expenses

Riyadh – Mubasher: Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) on Tuesday reported declines in its profits for both the second quarter of 2018 and the first six months of the year.

The Saudi-based bank logged SAR 921 million ($245.54 million) in profits between April and June, down 8.36% year-on-year from SAR 1.005 billion ($267.93 million).

Quarter-on-quarter, BSF’s profits fell 17.18% from SAR 1.112 billion, according to a bourse filing.

BSF attributed the decline in its net profits in Q2-18 to higher total operating expenses by 18.54% on the back of a larger impairment charge for credit losses, increased other general and administrative expenses, an impairment charge for other financial assets, and other operating expenses.

Total operating income rose 2.15% to SAR 1.665 billion in Q2-18 from SAR 1.630 billion in the year-ago period, while net special commission income increased 7.28% to SAR 1.252 billion from SAR 1.167 billion in Q2-17.

As for the six-month period ended 30 June, BSF logged SAR 2.033 billion in net profit, down 3.6% year-on-year from SAR 2.109 billion, its financial statements showed.

Total operating income amounted to SAR 3.410 billion in H1-18, up 2.49% from SAR 3.327 billion in the same period of 2017, while net special commission income grew 10.05% year-on-year to SAR 2.508 billion from SAR 2.279 billion.

BSF attributed the decline in first-half profits to higher total operating expenses by 12.89%, citing the same reasons as Q2-18.

Earnings per share (EPS) amounted to SAR 1.69 in H1-18 versus SAR 1.76 in the year-ago period.

BSF’s total assets stood at SAR 188.918 billion in H1-18, down 8% from SAR 205.344 billion recorded in the first six months of 2017, the statement showed.

The bank’s customer deposits declined 10.49% to SAR 146.705 billion in the six-month period ended 30 June 2018, from SAR 163.904 billion in H1-17.

BSF previously reported near-stable profits of SAR 1.11 billion for Q1-18.