Company Insights Saudi National Bank Banking and Finance Saudi National Bank News Banking and Finance Saudi Arabia’s biggest bank wants wealthy depositors back Saudi Arabia’s largest bank by assets is trying to woo back wealthy customers after losing many since a merger in 2021. SNB, or Saudi National Bank, is a merger of National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group, formerly known as the Saudi American Bank. It has underperformed against its major domestic rivals, reporting comparatively lower […] February 14, 2025 Banking and Finance STC digital banking given go-ahead to open in Saudi Arabia STC Bank, a digital lender launched by Saudi Arabia’s biggest telecoms company, will commence operations in Saudi Arabia after receiving authorisation from the Saudi Central Bank (Sama). In an announcement published on the Saudi Exchange on Wednesday morning, STC Group (Saudi Telecoms Company) said that STC Bank’s launch “represents a significant milestone in the kingdom’s […] January 29, 2025 Oil & Gas Trump’s oil policy ‘problematic’ for Gulf producers, economists warn Gulf oil producers should be worried about President Donald Trump‘s energy policy, economists have warned, as it could widen their budget deficits. Oil prices have already dipped in response to Trump’s pledge on Monday to boost US hydrocarbon production and they could plunge far below the breakeven prices adopted by Gulf governments in their annual […] January 22, 2025 Opinion Banking and Finance Stable, if lacking excitement: the outlook for Gulf banks GCC banks are well capitalised, have low cost-to-income ratios and have been generating healthy profits January 8, 2025 Construction Banks vying to fund Roshn’s Saudi expansion Saudi real estate developer Roshn, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is reporting strong interest from banks eager to finance its projects, and demand is so high that some lenders have been turned away, according to a senior executive. In contrast to this momentum, Saudi Arabia’s other giga-projects face financing constraints, with resources […] November 14, 2024 Telecoms PIF’s $1bn Saudi Telecom sale could be sign of things to come Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has offloaded a $1 billion stake in the kingdom’s former telecoms monopoly in a deal that could mark the start of further equity sales as government entities seek to raise money for infrastructure spending. In October, the International Monetary Fund lowered its GDP growth prediction for Saudi Arabia this year […] November 14, 2024 Sustainability Saudi Arabia’s carbon market to finance climate projects Saudi Arabia has launched a carbon trading market that will help provide financing for climate projects. The Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company’s (RVCMC) voluntary carbon market exchange platform has more than 2.5 million tonnes of carbon credits for auction, it said in a statement. Buyers can obtain carbon credits from 17 climate projects from around […] November 12, 2024 Aviation Startup airline Riyadh Air secures $1.3bn credit facility Riyadh Air, the Saudi airline that is due to start operations next year, signed a SAR5 billion ($1.3 billion) credit facility with a syndicate of banks on Wednesday, as it announced an order for 60 more aircraft. The kingdom’s second flag carrier, owned by the PIF sovereign wealth fund, has closed an inaugural Islamic revolving […] October 31, 2024 Banking and Finance Rate cuts will put pressure on Gulf banks’ margins September’s benchmark interest rate reductions came too late to affect Gulf banks’ third-quarter earnings to a meaningful extent, although the longer-term impact on lenders’ net interest margins will be negative. In mid-September the Federal Reserve cut the benchmark US interest rate by 50 basis points to 5 percent, its first reduction since late 2018. The […] October 25, 2024 Analysis Banking and Finance Analysts expect ‘mixed’ picture from Gulf banks’ Q3 results The Gulf’s largest banks are likely to report mixed earnings for the third quarter, analysts say, as pressure on margins lessens the benefit of lending growth. Qatar National Bank and Dubai’s Emirates NBD – the Middle East and Africa’s largest and fifth largest banks by assets – have already published Q3 results. QNB’s profit rose […] October 23, 2024 Posts navigation Previous 1 2 3 … 9 Next
Banking and Finance Saudi Arabia’s biggest bank wants wealthy depositors back Saudi Arabia’s largest bank by assets is trying to woo back wealthy customers after losing many since a merger in 2021. SNB, or Saudi National Bank, is a merger of National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group, formerly known as the Saudi American Bank. It has underperformed against its major domestic rivals, reporting comparatively lower […] February 14, 2025
Banking and Finance STC digital banking given go-ahead to open in Saudi Arabia STC Bank, a digital lender launched by Saudi Arabia’s biggest telecoms company, will commence operations in Saudi Arabia after receiving authorisation from the Saudi Central Bank (Sama). In an announcement published on the Saudi Exchange on Wednesday morning, STC Group (Saudi Telecoms Company) said that STC Bank’s launch “represents a significant milestone in the kingdom’s […] January 29, 2025
Oil & Gas Trump’s oil policy ‘problematic’ for Gulf producers, economists warn Gulf oil producers should be worried about President Donald Trump‘s energy policy, economists have warned, as it could widen their budget deficits. Oil prices have already dipped in response to Trump’s pledge on Monday to boost US hydrocarbon production and they could plunge far below the breakeven prices adopted by Gulf governments in their annual […] January 22, 2025
Opinion Banking and Finance Stable, if lacking excitement: the outlook for Gulf banks GCC banks are well capitalised, have low cost-to-income ratios and have been generating healthy profits January 8, 2025
Construction Banks vying to fund Roshn’s Saudi expansion Saudi real estate developer Roshn, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is reporting strong interest from banks eager to finance its projects, and demand is so high that some lenders have been turned away, according to a senior executive. In contrast to this momentum, Saudi Arabia’s other giga-projects face financing constraints, with resources […] November 14, 2024
Telecoms PIF’s $1bn Saudi Telecom sale could be sign of things to come Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has offloaded a $1 billion stake in the kingdom’s former telecoms monopoly in a deal that could mark the start of further equity sales as government entities seek to raise money for infrastructure spending. In October, the International Monetary Fund lowered its GDP growth prediction for Saudi Arabia this year […] November 14, 2024
Sustainability Saudi Arabia’s carbon market to finance climate projects Saudi Arabia has launched a carbon trading market that will help provide financing for climate projects. The Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company’s (RVCMC) voluntary carbon market exchange platform has more than 2.5 million tonnes of carbon credits for auction, it said in a statement. Buyers can obtain carbon credits from 17 climate projects from around […] November 12, 2024
Aviation Startup airline Riyadh Air secures $1.3bn credit facility Riyadh Air, the Saudi airline that is due to start operations next year, signed a SAR5 billion ($1.3 billion) credit facility with a syndicate of banks on Wednesday, as it announced an order for 60 more aircraft. The kingdom’s second flag carrier, owned by the PIF sovereign wealth fund, has closed an inaugural Islamic revolving […] October 31, 2024
Banking and Finance Rate cuts will put pressure on Gulf banks’ margins September’s benchmark interest rate reductions came too late to affect Gulf banks’ third-quarter earnings to a meaningful extent, although the longer-term impact on lenders’ net interest margins will be negative. In mid-September the Federal Reserve cut the benchmark US interest rate by 50 basis points to 5 percent, its first reduction since late 2018. The […] October 25, 2024
Analysis Banking and Finance Analysts expect ‘mixed’ picture from Gulf banks’ Q3 results The Gulf’s largest banks are likely to report mixed earnings for the third quarter, analysts say, as pressure on margins lessens the benefit of lending growth. Qatar National Bank and Dubai’s Emirates NBD – the Middle East and Africa’s largest and fifth largest banks by assets – have already published Q3 results. QNB’s profit rose […] October 23, 2024
