The Saudi British Bank (SABB) recorded a net profit after Zakat and income tax of SR970 million ($259 million) for the three months ending March 31. This is a decrease of SR1 million or 0.1 percent compared to SR971 million for the same period in 2020.
The operating income was SR2.01 billion for the three months ending March 31, a decrease of SR361 million or 15 percent, compared to SR2.37 billion for the same period in 2020.
The loans and advances stood at SR156.7 billion on March 31, an increase of SR1.5 billion or 1 percent from SR155.2 billion on March 31, 2020.
The customers’ deposits amounted to SR183.7 billion for the first quarter of 2021, a decrease of SR4.6 billion or 2.4 percent compared with SR188.3 billion for the same period last year.
The investments stood at SR63.2 billion on March 31, an increase of SR2.7 billion or 4.4 percent from SR60.5 billion on March 31, 2020.
The total assets were SR271.6 billion, an increase of SR5.9 billion or 2.2 percent from SR265.7 billion on March 31, 2020.
The earnings per share of SR0.47 remained stable compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Lubna Suliman Olayan, board chair of SABB, said: “As the first quarter of 2021 drew to a close, we completed the last major milestone of the process of integrating SABB and Alawwal bank — ‘Customer Day 1’ — the migration of our retail customers previously served through the Alawwal bank channels onto SABB’s infrastructure. So from March 14 onwards all of our customers — retail, corporate and institutional — are enjoying the same single, seamless quality experience, underpinned by SABB’s systems and infrastructure.
“SABB’s financial performance remained resilient during a period of continued economic challenges posed by the persistence of the global pandemic and heightened competition domestically. Despite these challenges, our lending to customers grew, our funding, liquidity and capital levels remained strong, our costs stayed well controlled, and our cost of credit risk remained low.” She added: “Having delivered a positive return for shareholders in the first quarter, we shall continue to build and remain fully focused on executing our strategic plan and supporting the national economic transformation goals of Vision 2030. The board remains excited about that strategic plan and its ambitious outcomes for our customers, shareholders, staff, and community.”
Olayan also bid farewell to the outgoing CEO of SABB and welcomed the new chief.
“As he nears his retirement in the second quarter of 2021, we are especially grateful to David Dew for his leadership of SABB over these many years, well positioning the bank to achieve those ambitious outcomes under the leadership of our new CEO, Tony Cripps. I have no doubt that under Tony’s leadership, combined with the support of our management team and board, SABB will deliver those outcomes. As we begin this second quarter, we remain grateful to our customers, management team, staff and shareholders for their continued support and commitment, and to our regulators and government ministries for their continued guidance and vision,” she said.
