Saudi bank Samba’s Q2 net profit slips 1.4%, but meets forecasts

Dubai: Samba Financial Group, Saudi Arabia’s third-largest bank by assets, reported a 1.4 per cent drop in second-quarter net profit on Monday, in line with analysts’ forecasts. The bank made a profit of 1.31 billion riyals (Dh1.28 billion or $349.3 million) in the three months to June 30, down from 1.33 billion riyals in the same period a year earlier, it said in a bourse statement. Six analysts polled by journalists had on average forecast the bank would make a quarterly net profit of 1.30 billion riyals. The bank attributed its drop in net profit to a 6.4 per cent rise in total operating expenses as a result of an increase in salaries and related expenses and higher credit provisions.