National Commercial Bank (NCB), Saudi Arabia's largest bank by assets, made a net profit of SR770 million ($205.3 million) in the fourth quarter versus a net loss of SR2.55 billion a year earlier. NCB made a net profit of SR4.04 billion in 2009, or an increase of 98.9 percent from the SR2.03 billion profit for 2008, it said in a statement. “This (rise in 2009 net profit) confirms the bank's ability to efficiently manage its assets and diversify its sources of income despite global economic challenges,” said Sheikh Abudullah Bahamdan, NCB chairman. NCB's fourth-quarter earnings bucked a trend that affected most listed Saudi banks which reported lower earnings both during the fourth-quarter and 2009. He added that the bank's rising profitability reflects effective execution of a strategy centered on service excellence, innovation and risk management which generated growth in the bank's core activities. Net special commission income grew by 3.5 percent, fees by 2.5 percent, loans and advances by 3.9 percent to SR112.2 billion and customer deposits by 17.9 percent to SR202.6 billion. Bahamdan further said the positive results reinforced the bank's strong balance sheet and capital as total assets grew by 16.1 percent to SR257.4 billion and shareholders' equity by 12.1 percent to SR29.3 billion. NCB said its loans rose 4 percent in 2009, compared to 22.8 percent in 2008, while deposits rose 17.9 percent in 2009, down from a 20.3 percent rise in 2008. Most Saudi banks posted poorer fourth-quarter and annual earnings for 2009 due mainly to the global economic slowdown and provisions for loan losses after multi-billion dollar debt defaults last year by some family-owned firms which made banks more meticulous on lending. Banks more than tripled provisions against loan losses over the first nine months of 2009 to SR6.04 billion. The global economic slowdown slowed the Saudi economy.
