Saudi British Bank Q1 profit rises 14%

Dubai: Saudi British Bank, Saudi Arabia’s fourth-largest listed lender, posted a 14 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit on Wednesday, slightly higher than analyst forecasts.

The bank said it made 1.08 billion Saudi riyals ($287.97 million) in the three months ending Mar. 31, up from 947.9 million riyals in the same period a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected the bank to post an average net profit of 1.02 Billion riyals for the quarter. The bank attributed its profit growth to rising operating income, which increased 12.8 per cent to 1.62 billion riyals.