Alawwal bank announced its financial results for the first three months of 2018, reporting a net profit of SAR 286 million. Excluding one-off gain on asset sales of SAR 25m in the previous year, net profit was lower by 4.4% year-on-year.
The bank’s total capital continued to strengthen, with capital adequacy ratio increasing 139 basis points from year-end 2017 to 21.73%.
Total operating income for the quarter stands at SAR 860m. Adjusted for one-off gain on asset sales, this represents a decline of 3.9% versus the same period last year. The decline was mainly due to a decrease in fee and commission income.
Total operating expenses was lower by 3.8% compared to the same period of 2017. The decrease was mainly driven by lower impairment charge for credit losses, partially offset by higher depreciation from investments in the retail network, enhancing the digital banking proposition for customers and improving efficiency in the bank’s technology.
Alawwal bank’s Managing Director, Soren Nikolajsen said, “We’ve continued to improve the core engine of the bank, strengthening our capital, liquidity position and asset quality. This is still a challenging market for banks but we have invested in some key areas and are well placed to capitalise on the growth opportunities ahead. Where there is good business to be done, we will be there ready to support it.”
Alawwal bank ended the first quarter with total assets of SAR 88.8 billion, down 11.5 % year-on-year.
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© Press Release 2018
