RIYADH: National Commercial Bank (NCB), Saudi Arabia's largest lender by assets, posted a 7.8 percent increase in third-quarter net income, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
NCB, which is currently undertaking the largest ever initial public offering in the Gulf Arab region, made 1.87 billion riyals ($498.4 million) in the three months to September 30, up from 1.73 billion riyals in the same period last year.
The bank began a two-week subscription period on Sunday for its 22.5 billion riyals ($6.0 billion) share sale.
It has also said it would convert into a fully-fledged Islamic bank in around five years, after coming under pressure from sharia scholars in the kingdom. (Reuters)
