Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi General Authority for Competition (GAC) has announced receiving a request by The Saudi British Bank (SABB) and Alawwal Bank regarding their potential merger.
Once the merger is completed, all of Alawwal Bank's assets will be transferred to SABB, GAC said in a statement via its official Twitter account on Sunday.
In May, the two banks stated that their merger discussions started in April 2017 and have reached advanced stages. Several months later, in October, the two Saudi lenders signed a binding merger agreement.
SABB last reported a 15.14% year-on-year profit increase during the third quarter of 2018, logging SAR 1.247 billion, up from SAR 1.083 billion, while in the nine-month period from January to September, profits levelled up 14.47% to SAR 3.718 billion, from SAR 3.248 billion in the same period of 2017.
Meanwhile, Alawwal Bank had reported a 23% year-on-year profit decline in the third quarter of 2018, reaching SAR 281 million, compared to SAR 363 million, while in the first nine months of 2018 profits retreated 19% to SAR 820.6 million, from SAR 1.1 billion.
SABB’s stock inched down 0.90% to SAR 32.90 on Sunday, whereas Alawwal Bank’s stock rose 1.08%, reaching SAR 15.
