SAB's net profit for Q1 up 76%; revenue soars to record $878mln

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Saudi Awwal Bank (formerly Saudi British Bank - SABB) has announced that it has delivered solid results for the first quarter with a 76% jump in its net profit over last year hitting a record SR1.8 billion ($479 million), while its operating income surged to SR3.2 billion ($878 million).

Announcing its results for the first three months of the year ended March 31, 2023, SAB said it is continuing its growth along the trajectory on which the bank ended 2022.

Growing the customer lending portfolio is a key strategic focus for the bank, which has seen a 4% growth in loans.

The bank's net customer advances for the first quarter soared to hit SR191 billion, up 8% over last year and up 4% on Q4, while its customer deposits for the three-month period surged by 17% to SR225.9 billion and up 5% on Q4.

The shareholders’ equity too witnessed a rise hitting SR57 billion, up 6% over last year and up 4% on Q4.

On its solid performance, SABB Board of Directors Chairperson Lubna S. Olayan said: "Our corporate business remains strong and we saw growth across a number of sectors, with activity related to some of the landmark Vision 2030 giga projects continuing at pace, which bodes well for our future pipeline."

"Our retail business also had a strong first quarter with 4% growth in total balances driven by robust mortgage origination activity, leading to an increase in our origination market share and hence an increase of 6% in our portfolio," stated Olayan.

She pointed out that loan growth across SABB's retail and corporate businesses was exceptional, and in line with the market.

"The corporate, retail and treasury businesses each showed strong revenue growth, while we continued to improve our banking offering through continued digital transformation," she added.

On its recent re-branding, Olayan said: "While the new name – SABالأول reflects a long history and legacy of firsts in the kingdom, the new name most importantly represents a genuine desire to put customers first by prioritizing their aspirations and ambitions. I am incredibly proud to see the bank enter this next phase of our evolution under the new branding and name."

She pointed out that the key financial performance indicators were all in line with plan.

"Revenue of SR3.2 billion, a record for the bank, was driven by strong net special commission income generation from increasing volumes and higher rates, improved fee and exchange income, and higher trading income as we took advantage of certain positions in our investment portfolio, while continuing to position it for potential cuts in benchmark rates," stated the top official.

According to her, SAB managed the costs well resulting in a drop in cost efficiency ratio, while its asset quality remained strong. "We saw a fall in our non-performing loans ratio.

All of this resulted in improving returns, generating a 15.9% return on tangible equity for the first quarter," she added.-TradeArabia News Service