Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank (NCB) recorded an 83 percent rise in net profits in the first quarter of 2002, reaching 734 million Saudi riyals ($196 million) compared with SR402 million from the first quarter of the previous year.
The return on average assets rose from 1.7 percent in the first quarter of 2001 to 2.9 percent for the first quarter of 2002 and the average return on equity amounted to 34.2 percent compared to 27.1 percent in the first quarter of last year.
Total assets of the Bank had rose to SR100.8 billion ($26.8 million) by the end of March, a 12.3 percent increase of SR11 billion, over 2001 levels. Customer deposits increased by 10.8 percent of SR7.7 billion, reaching SR78.9 billion in the same period, compared to SR71.2 billion in the first three months of 2001.
NCB became a joint stock company in July 1997. In 1999, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), an arm of the Saudi government, acquired a 50 percent shareholding in the bank. Subsequently, PIF sold 10 percent of the shares to the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI). — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
