Saudi Hollandi quarterly profit falls due to lower fees

Saudi Hollandi Bank, partly owned by ABN Amro Holding, said its first quarter profit declined 19 percent on lower commission and operational income.

Net income dropped to $61.3 million, or $0.18 a share, from $75.8 million, or $0.22 a share, in the year earlier period, the Riyadh based bank said today in a statement on the Saudi bourse Web site.

Commission income fell 27 percent to $82.3 million.

Tightened lending and increased provisions for bad loans have crimped earnings at Saudi banks since the onset of the global credit crisis and as the economy slowed.

Saudi British Bank, a lender 40 percent owned by HSBC Holdings, reported in February that bad loans surged to $941.2 million last year from $51.6 million in 2008.

Saudi Hollandi’s loan book shrank 7.4 percent in the quarter to $9.7 million, while its investments for the period fell 15.8 percent to $3.54 billion, the bank said.

Saudi Hollandi shares advanced 0.3 percent to $8.90 in Riyadh before the release of the earnings, valuing the company at $2.93 billion.

The stock has advanced 11 percent this year.