Saudi Arabias top banks see profits increase by 34% in first quarter of 2021

A&M’s Banking Pulse for Saudi Arabia said lenders in the Kingdom “have rebounded to deliver blockbuster first quarter profit,” mainly due to improving macroeconomic conditions, the country’s buoyant capital market, and a significant decrease in impairments.

The banks included in the study were Saudi National Bank, Al-Rajhi Bank, Riyad Bank, Saudi British Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, Arab National Bank, Alinma Bank, Bank Al-Bilad, Saudi Investment Bank, and Bank Al-Jazira.

“Looking ahead, credit growth is likely to be driven by continuous strength in mortgage lending and a pickup in corporate credit demand in the second half of 2021, as the economic activity continues to improve,” said Asad Ahmed, A&M managing director and head of Middle East financial services. “Corporate lending is expected to gain traction as the Public Investment Fund plans to invest $40 billion into the economy annually until 2025, to support business activity.”

Ahmed said that following the merger of Saudi banking titans National Commercial Bank and Samba to form Saudi National Bank, other lenders in the Kingdom would also look to consolidate their position and improve their capital base.

Loans and advances increased by 5 percent in the first quarter while deposit growth slowed to 2.2 percent in the same period. The lending picked up on the back of mortgage financing in the retail sector driven by government initiatives to increase homeownership, A&M said.

The cost of risk across all the banks fell to its lowest level in the last five quarters from 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year to 0.6 percent in the first quarter of this year.

Total impairments fell by half as the banks saw a reversal of some bad loans that had previously been set aside during the pandemic.