Banking & Finance Saudi National Bank profit rises 8% to $5.3bn in 2023 By Pramod Kumar February 5, 2024, 6:03 AM Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany Saudi National Bank and Al Rajhi Bank have recommended dividends of 9% and 11.5% respectively for the second half of 2023 Saudi National Bank (SNB), the biggest lender by assets in the kingdom, said net profit rose eight percent year on year to SAR20.01 billion ($5.34 billion) in 2023. Total operating income increased 4.8 percent year on year, mainly due to a 2.7 percent rise in net special commission income and a 5.1 percent growth in the fee income from banking services. Exchange income rose by 23.1 percent, coupled with a 22 percent surge in investment income. However, the lender’s other operating expenses rose 21.9 percent, partially offsetting the earnings. Jack be nimble, if you want to make money in the Tadawul Saudi-US trade banks sign deal despite kingdom’s China links Larger deficits unlikely to trouble Saudi debt access Total assets rose 9.69 percent year on year to SAR1.04 trillion. Loans and advances increased 10.31 percent annually to SAR60.15 billion. Customers’ deposits rose 3.8 percent year on year to SAR590 billion last year. In May 2023, SNB said its 9.88 percent shareholding in investment bank Credit Suisse will convert to nearly 0.5 percent of UBS following the merger of the two Switzerland-based lenders. The Saudi bank, a top shareholder in Credit Suisse, said the Swiss lender’s investment carrying value had declined 70 percent to SAR1.3 billion as of March 31, 2023.
Mining Ma’aden signs $1bn contracts to develop industrial cities Saudi mineral giant Ma’aden has signed three contracts worth a combined $922 million with foreign companies to develop a third phosphate fertiliser project. The majority state-owned Saudi mining company announced the agreements in a note to the Saudi bourse on Thursday, coinciding with the final day of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh. Ma’aden is […] 9 hours ago
Tax $660m a year ‘sin tax’ target set by Kuwait Kuwait hopes to raise 200 million dinars ($660 million) a year through a “sin tax” on unhealthy products as part of tax reforms proposed by the International Monetary Fund, the country’s finance minister said on Wednesday. Noora Al-Fassam told the official Kuwaiti news agency that her ministry was working on a new law for a […] 10 hours ago
Transport Tenders issued for high speed Abu Dhabi-Dubai rail link Tenders have been issued for the design and construction of central components in a high-speed rail link between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Etihad Rail, the national rail company of the UAE, has sent out tenders for designing and constructing civil works and station packages for the line connecting the two cities as part of the […] 11 hours ago
EXCLUSIVE Aviation Wizz Air increases flights from UAE to Israel after ceasefire The budget carrier Wizz Air is increasing the number of flights between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The airline had previously scaled back its Tel Aviv-Abu Dhabi service to four flights a week because of the conflict, down from its pre-crisis schedule of two flights a day. […] 12 hours ago
