Samba posts flat Q3 profit

Samba Financial Group, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest listed bank, posted a flat third-quarter net profit yesterday, coming in slightly below the average forecast of analysts.

The bank said in a bourse filing it made 1.17bn riyals ($312mn) in the three months to September 30, compared with 1.16bn riyals in the same period of last year, attributing the marginal rise to a 3% gain in operating income.

Ten analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast it would, on average, post a net profit for the quarter of 1.2bn riyals.

Samba’s loans portfolio climbed 15.9% on the same point last year to 113.7bn riyals at the end of September, in line with the 15% year-on-year growth in bank lending to private companies noted by the central bank in its August data.

Deposits grew by 8.3% year-on-year to reach 155.2bn riyals at the end of the third quarter.

SABB

Saudi British Bank (SABB) said yesterday its third-quarter net profit jumped 29% over last year, citing higher operating income and lower expenses, but missed analysts’ forecasts.

SABB and other Saudi banks have benefited from rising lending, deposits and deal activity in an economy buoyed by years of high state spending which is backed by strong oil prices and record government surpluses.

The lender, an affiliate of HSBC Holdings, made 846mn riyals ($225.6mn) in the three months to September 30, compared with 656mn riyals in the corresponding period of 2012, it said in a bourse filing.

Ten analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast it would earn a net profit of 947.7mn riyals in the quarter.

Saudi companies issue brief earnings statements early in the reporting period before publishing more detailed filings later.

SABB managing director David Dew told Reuters in an October 1 interview that the bank had been outperforming its peers in recent quarters in terms of net income and profit margins.

He said a three-year strategic plan that the bank was finalising is based on an assumption that government spending will continue to grow and that Saudi bank lending levels to the private sector are sustainable in the mid teens for the next two-three years.

Ma’aden

Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Ma’aden) said yesterday its third-quarter net profit more than trebled to 1.43bn riyals ($381.3mn) from 311mn riyals a year ago because of a payment from partners in a joint venture.

The company said its gross profit for the quarter fell 45% from a year ago to 396mn riyals and its operational profit fell 80% to 98mn riyals from the same period last year.

It attributed the rise in net profit to “the receipt of contractual dues from joint venture partners... in the amount of 1.44bn riyals” relating to a phosphate project.

Nakheel

Dubai government-owned property developer Nakheel has said its nine-month net profit jumped 58% year-on-year as the company continued to benefit from the recovery in the emirate’s property market.

The firm, which was taken over by the government as part of its $16bn restructuring plan completed in 2011, made a net profit of 1.77bn dirhams ($481.9mn) in the nine months to September 30, versus 1.12bn dirhams in the corresponding period of 2012, a statement said.

Dubai real estate prices slumped by more than 50% from their 2008 peak in the aftermath of the emirate’s property bubble bursting, but have been advancing in recent months as investor confidence in the sector returns.