Riyadh –Mubasher: Saudi British Bank (SABB) on Wednesday reported a 9.3% decline in net profits in the first quarter of 2017 to SAR 1.04 billion ($276 million) compared to SAR 1.14 billion ($305 million) in the same period in 2016.
“The decrease in net profit was primarily driven by higher operating expenses which increased by 19.7% mainly due to increase in provision for credit losses and impairment of other financial assets,” SABB said in a statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).
Quarter-on-quarter, profits surged 70.7% in Q1-17, the bank said.
Total operating profits increased 1.6% to reach SAR 1.82 billion compared to SAR 1.8 billion, the statement added.
Net special commission income climbed 12% to SAR 1.25 billion in Q1-17 compared to SAR 1.12 billion in the same quarter last year.
By 02:03 pm Saudi time, SABB’s stock grew 1.37% to SAR 22.15.
