JEDDAH: Al Rajhi Bank said Wednesday its fourth-quarter net profit rose 13.5 percent to SR1.7 billion ($444.8 million million) from SR1.5 billion a year ago on higher finance income. Earnings per share in 2010 were unchanged at SR4.51 compared with a year earlier, the company said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse website. The total operating profit for the fourth quarter stood at SR2.9 billion, compared with SR2.8 billion in the same quarter of 2009. Egypt's EFG-Hermes expected the bank to earn SR1.57 billion in the three-month period. Separately, Saudi Hollandi Bank said Wednesday it swung to a fourth-quarter net profit of SR224.6 million ($59.9 million) compared with a net loss of SR439.4 million in the same period a year earlier, on a drop in operational costs. Full-year earnings per share stood at SR2.39 versus SR0.26 in the year-earlier period, Saudi Hollandi said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse website. Its major shareholder is the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS). Total operating income in the fourth quarter amounted to SR483.7 million, down from SR516 million. And net lending income, or special fees net income, stood at SR314.1 million, down 19.7 percent down from SR391.4. The lender said its assets as of the end of December were down 8.8 percent at SR53.9 billion compared with a year earlier, while its loan book declined 2.7 percent year-on-year to SR35.03 billion. It set aside SR249.8 million in provisions for credit losses in the third quarter of 2010, compared with SR172.3 million in the year-ago period and SR33.4 million in the second quarter. Hollandi shares closed up 0.3 percent at SR30.10. Meanwhile, Alinma Bank said Wednesday fourth-quarter net profit surged to SR67 million Saudi ($17.9 million) from SR6 million a year ago. Full-year earnings per share stood at SR0.01 compared with SR0.4 in 2009, the Kingdom's newest Islamic bank said in a statement on the Saudi bourse website. It said 2010 net income plunged to SR15 million from SR605 a year earlier due to the increased operating costs associated with the launch of its retail banking operations. The bank's assets stood at SR26.7 billion at the end of December, up 54 percent from a year earlier.
