RIYADH – Samba Financial Group said its second-quarter net profit rose 1.5 percent over last year, in line with the average forecast of analysts. The bank said in a bourse filing Wednesday it made SR1.18 billion ($314.7 million) in the three months to June 30, compared to SR1.16 billion in the same period of last year. Net profit for the first six months of 2013 was SR2.33 billion, up 1.4 percent on the same period of last year. Samba said in a separate statement it would pay dividends worth SR941 million for the first half of 2013, equating to 0.8 riyals per share. Meanwhile, Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia's largest listed lender, posted a slight rise in its second-quarter net profit on Wednesday. The bank made SR2.12 billion ($565.3 million) in the three months to June 30, compared with SR2.09 billion in the same period a year earlier, it said in a statement. Profit for the opening six months of the year was SR4.17 billion, up from SR4.10 billion in the corresponding period of 2012. Last week, the Kingdom's third-largest listed lender Riyad Bank posted a second quarter net profit rise of 5.9 percent to SR968 million. – SG
