Al Rajhi Bank Q2 profit climbs 17.7% as fee and commission income grows

Saudi Arabia’s biggest bank by market value missed analysts' forecasts

Al Rajhi Bank on Tuesday said its second quarter net income rose 3.4 per cent. Bloomberg

Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s biggest bank by market value, reported a 17.7 per cent surge in its second-quarter net profit, thanks to higher income from fees and special commissions.

Net profit for the three-month period to June 30 climbed to 2.57 billion Saudi riyals (Dh2.52), the lender said in a regulatory filing to the Saudi stock exchange, where its shares are traded. Net special income and investments rose to 3.23bn riyals during the period from 2,95bn from a year-earlier, it said.

The earnings missed the mean estimate of 2.4bn riyals of three analysts polled by Reuters.

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“Net income increased due to an increase in total operation income by 10.6 per cent caused by an increase in net special commission income, fees from banking services, and other operating income,” the bank said, without specifying the reasons for increases.

The fortunes of Saudi Arabian banks in general are improving on the back of a return to economic growth in the Arab world’s largest economy after it slowed down in the wake of a three-year oil slump.

Saudi Arabian financial institutions are expected to outperform their GCC peers this year on greater government spending and higher interest rates, which will boost net interest margins, according to a Moody’s Investors Service report released earlier this year.