Dubai Islamic Bank Q1 profit jumps 17%
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the largest Shariah-compliant lender in the emirate, said yesterday its first-quarter net profit climbed 17%, after the bank posted strong asset growth since December.
The bank made 301.7mn dirhams ($82.2mn) in the three months to March 31, up from 258.5mn dirhams in the corresponding period last year, it said in a statement.
EFG Hermes had forecast the bank would make a profit of 261mn dirhams in the first quarter.
Total assets jumped 22% in the first quarter compared to the end of 2012, reaching 120.6bn dirhams at the end of March, accompanied by a 32% increase in customer deposits over the same time period. A spokesman for the bank, contacted by telephone, declined to elaborate on the reasons for the surge in assets and deposits.
DIB is in the process of fully acquiring Tamweel through a share swap, with the Shariah-compliant mortgage lender due to be delisted in June.
Tamweel, in which DIB already owned 58.2%, reported on April 10 a 13.3% rise in first-quarter net profit on the back of lower provisioning.
Banque Saudi Fransi
Banque Saudi Fransi, the lender part-owned by Credit Agricole, posted a 13.3% drop in its first-quarter net profit as higher operating expenses weighed on the bank, it said in a bourse statement yesterday.
The kingdom’s fifth-largest bank by market capitalisation said it made 684mn riyals ($182.4mn) in the three months ended March 31, compared with 789mn riyals in the same period a year earlier.
The results missed estimates; analysts surveyed by Reuters had expected the bank to post an average of 778.6mn riyals for the first quarter.
First-quarter results from banks in Saudi Arabia have generally been positive, with most lenders reporting profit growth on the back of higher operating income.
Banque Saudi Fransi, however, said its operating income for the quarter fell by 1.2% from a year earlier to 1.2bn riyals, while profits from special commissions were flat.
Saudi Kayan
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co said yesterday its first-quarter loss more than doubled as production slowed due to plant turnarounds.
Kayan, a subsidiary of Saudi Basic Industries Corp, reported a loss of 154.9mn Saudi riyals ($41mn) in the three months ending March 31 compared with a 71.1mn riyals loss in the year earlier. The firm’s loss per share was 0.103 riyals for the first quarter, compared with a loss per share of 0.05 riyals in the first quarter of 2012, it said in a statement posted on the Tadawul website.
Kayan blamed “a decrease in production and sales volume due to the scheduled turnaround for some production units,” for the widening quarterly loss. It also cited an increase in selling expenses, general and administrative costs, and Zakat, or tax, provisions.
Safco
Saudi Arabia Fertilisers Co posted an 18% jump in first-quarter net profit yesterday due in part to improved product prices.
The company, better known as Safco, said net income in the three months ending March 31 amounted to 932mn Saudi riyals ($248mn), up from 787mn riyals a year ago.
The result missed the 1bn riyals effort that Cairo-based EFG Hermes had expected and was also shy of the 1.03bn riyals that analysts at NCB Capital had predicted.
Safco said earnings per share for the latest three month period were 2.79 riyals, up from 2.36 riyals in the same period last year.
Yansab
Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co, better known as Yansab, posted yesterday a 7.4% drop in first-quarter profit as the shutdown of an ethylene glycol unit for planned maintenance weighed.
Net income in the three months ended March 31 amounted to 667.1mn Saudi riyals ($180mn), down from 720.3mn riyals in the year ago period. Earnings per share in the latest three-month period were 1.186 riyals, down from 1.280 riyals in the year earlier, Yansab said in a statement on the Tadawul website.
Savola Group
Savola Group, a Saudi-based agriculture, food and retail company, has posted a forecast beating 22% rise in first quarter profit due in part to a strong performance by its food division.
Net income in the three months ended March 31 came to 295.2mn Saudi riyals ($79mn), up from 242.3mn riyals a year ago.
The quarterly result easily beat the 271mn riyals effort that analysts at NCB Capital had forecast. It was also better than the 254mn riyals profit that EFG Hermes had predicted.
Group revenues for the quarter reached 7.2bn riyals, an increase of 9% from 6.6bn riyals in the same quarter of last year, Savola said in a statement posted on the Tadawul website.
National Commercial Bank
Saudi Arabia’s largest lender by assets, National Commercial Bank (NCB), posted a 19.4% increase in first-quarter net profit on the back of higher special commission and fee income, it said yesterday.
The majority state-owned bank reported a net profit of 2.33bn riyals ($621.3mn) for the first three months of 2013, compared to 1.95bn riyals in the corresponding period of last year, the bank said in a statement.
The profit jump was driven by a 10.4% increase in special commission income and a 7.2% hike in fee income from banking services, Mansour al-Maiman, chairman of NCB, said in the statement without elaborating.
Unlisted NCB reported loans and advances climbed 19.9% year-on-year to stand at 171bn riyals at the end of March, while customer deposits grew 11.6% to 277bn riyals.
