Major Saudi bank sees Q1 net profit fall by 41%

National Commercial Bank (NCB), Saudi Arabia's largest bank by assets, on Monday posted a 41.2 percent fall in its first-quarter net profit after it made provisions for investments and loans.

State-owned NCB, which is slated for eventual privatisation, made a net profit of 1.046 billion riyals ($278.9 million) in the three months to March 31, it said in a statement.

"The bank continued to boost its investment and loan provisions...to preserve the strength and the soundness of the bank's assets," the statement said without elaborating.

The lender made a net loss of 2.55 billion riyals ($680 million) in the fourth quarter and blamed provisions for its investments for a poor performance in 2008. (Reuters)

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