DUBAI: Banque Saudi Fransi, part-owned by Credit Agricole, posted a three-fold rise in fourth-quarter net profit yesterday, after the bank rebounded from heavy provisions in the year earlier period.
The results from Saudi Arabia’s fifth-largest bank by assets were among a trio of generally upbeat results posted by lenders so far in the earnings’ season. Banque Saudi Fransi, Saudi Hollandi Bank and Riyad Bank have all delivered forecast-beating net profit.
“The results have been okay on balance. I’d been expecting more trading losses as net interest margins come under pressure from the volatility in markets,” said Chiradeep Ghosh, senior analyst at Securities & Investment Company, a Bahrain-based investment bank.
Banque Saudi Fransi made a net profit of SR851m ($226.8m) in the three months to December 31, up from SR274m in the same period a year earlier. The bank cited an increase in total operating income — which rose 10.9 percent to SR1.42bn and a decrease in total operating expenses for the higher profit without elaborating.
Saudi companies issue brief earnings statements early in the reporting period before publishing more detailed results later. However, total operating expenses if often interpreted as relating to expenses.
Ghosh estimates the amount of money set aside for bad loans fell to between SR73m and SR75m in the fourth quarter of this year, compared with around SR553m during the same period of 2013.
Reuters
