RIYADH: Saudi Hollandi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s oldest lender, posted a 5.1 percent fall in first-quarter net profit on Thursday as income from trading, fees and commissions dipped. The lender made a profit of 511.5 million riyals ($136.5 million) in the three months to end-March, down from 538.9 million riyals in the corresponding quarter of 2015, according to a bourse filing. Three analysts polled by Reuters had forecast on average Hollandi would make a quarterly profit of 494 million riyals.
The bank said a decrease in trading income and fee and commission income was partially offset by an 11.4 percent rise in net special commission income. Total operating income for the quarter fell 1.7 percent to 915.5 million riyals, while profit from special commissions grew to 596.5 million riyals.
Saudi companies issue brief earnings statements early in the reporting period before publishing more detailed results later. Analysts expect Saudi banks to feel greater pressure from lower oil prices in 2016 in the form of an uptick in bad loans, albeit from low levels, and more modest credit growth. Hollandi’s loans portfolio stood at 78.37 billion riyals at the end of March, 16.7 percent higher than the same point of 2015, according to the statement. The bank’s deposit base gained 9.7 percent year on year to 85.55 billion riyals.
