Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank (NCB), reported a 23.97 percent rise in Q2 net profit, pushing the bank’s shares higher on Wednesday.

NCB’s Q2 2019 net profit stood at 2.69 billion Saudi riyals ($717.21 million), compared to 2.17 billion riyals in Q2 2018, beating CI Capital’s estimate by 7.2 percent.

“A good set of results for NCB, as both the income statement and balance sheet items (are) showing healthy growth rates, with net interest margin (NIM) stabilising quarter on quarter (q-o-q), loans adding 2.8 percent, and net income growing 16.1 percent year on year (y-o-y),” Monsef Morsy, co-head of research at Egyptian brokerage CI Capital told Zawya.

According to CI Capital, NIM averaged 3.69 percent y-o-y, net interest income rose 2.7 percent and non-interest income gained 27.4 percent.

NCB’s Q2 2019 total revenue for special commissions/investments gained 7.66 percent to 4.78 billion riyals, from 4.44 billion riyals in Q2 2018.

The bank’s shares were trading 0.73 percent higher at 54.9 riyals on Wednesday by 13:55 GST and have added 14.73 percent so far since the start of the year 2019.

CI Capital is “overweight” on NCB’s stock, with a target price of 56.7 riyals.

(Reporting by Gerard Aoun; Editing by Seban Scaria)

(gerard.aoun@refinitiv.com)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Read our full disclaimer policy here.

© ZAWYA 2019