Cairo – Mubasher: MubasherTrade Research issued a report on Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank (NCB), maintaining its “Buy” recommendation on the stock, with a price target of SAR47.9/share, which represents an expected total return of +19%.
The Tadawul-listed bank posted on Tuesday a 0.96% rise in Q1-16 net profit to SAR 2.63 billion ($701.5 million), compared to SAR 2.6 billion ($695 million) in the same period of 2015, according to a bourse filing sent Tuesday.
The rise was attributed to the increase in operating income by 5.5% due to stronger special commission and fees revenues. Meanwhile, the lender’s operating expenses rose 11.5% as result to higher general and administrative expenses.
MTR said those earnings beat its estimates of SAR 2.237 billion and market consenus of SAR 2.430 billion by 17.6% and 8.3%, respectively.
The research firm said it maintains its positive view on NCB’s future growth outlook.
