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Higher operating income and lower bad-loan provisioning lifted net profits at Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) by 15 per cent to SR 4.04bn, NBK capital said today in a commentary on the Saudi bank’s performance.
“Total operating income stood at SR 1.53bn in 4Q2015, up 8 per cent year-on-year, resulting in 2015 operating income of SR 6.29bn, 9 per cent above 2014 and nearly matching our forecast,” NBK Capital said.
“The broadly flat net interest margin at a time when liquidity is tightening, the decent level of non-interest income, and the ongoing low provisioning are the major positives in our view,” NBK Capital said. “The trends in loans and deposits did not come to us as a surprise. We reiterate that BSF is one of our top picks among Saudi banks. We maintain our fair value and Buy recommendation on the stock.”