Saudi's Al Rajhi halts profit slide

Al Rajhi Banking & Investment, the largest Gulf Arab lender by market value, brought this year's decline in profit to a halt in the third quarter on higher income from investments.

Net income in the three months to September 30 rose 0.15% to 1.694 billion Saudi riyals, or 3.61 riyals per share, compared with 1.691 billion riyals, or 3.87 riyals per share, in the year-earlier period, the bank said in a statement.

Net income from investment rose 12.2% to 2 billion riyals, it said. Net operating income jumped 9.7% to 2.43 billion riyals, it said.

Shares of Al-Rajhi, which have fallen 11.2% this year, were up 0.3% at 0803 GMT.

Analysts' forecasts for third quarter profit ranged from 1.57 billion riyals to 1.72 billion riyals, according to a Reuters survey last month.

Year-on-year, profit fell in the first and second quarters.

Return on equity in the nine months to September 30 was 30.8%, the bank said.

The Islamic lender expects profit this year to grow despite a slowdown in consumer lending and a drop in brokerage fees, Chief Executive Abdullah Sulaiman Al-Rajhi told Reuters in August.

"The bank has met its first half-year's budget and, as originally, planned we expect to close the year with positive growth," Al-Rajhi said. - Reuters

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