Saudi banks seen to raise net earnings by 15% in ’13

[sandy]

The combined net income of Saudi Arabia’s 11 listed commercial banks will increase by nearly 15 percent in 2013 as a result of a recovery in domestic credit, along with strong economic performance and higher public spending, from a projected 11 percent in full earnings last year, Saudi bankers and economists forecast.

Saudi banks are expected to record a decline in their profits in the fourth quarter of 2012 because of higher provisions but full-year earnings are projected to be higher by around 11 percent, they said.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, Saudi banks’ profits are expected to fall by about five percent because of higher bad loan provisions, the paper said.
Figures showed provisions could leap by nearly 53 per cent to SR4.7 billion, almost equivalent to the total provisions taken through 2011.

“In 2012, the profits of Saudi banks are expected to rise by 11 percent to SR28.44 billion and they are projected to increase by 15 percent to SR32.7 billion in 2013 mainly due to an expected rise in lending to the real estate sector following the approval of the mortgage law in the Kingdom,” the study said.