Banks operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Saudi and foreign) achieved profits of 18.96 billion riyals during the first seven months of this year, compared to 29.34 billion riyals during the same period last year, a decrease of 35.4% (equivalent to 10.4 billion riyals).
The report includes profits before Zakat and taxes for 11 national banks, in addition to branches of 14 foreign banks licensed to operate in Saudi Arabia, while it does not include branches of banks abroad.
According to SAMA data, the decline came as a result of the global outbreak of the Coronavirus, which in turn led to a drop in US interest rates, while reducing the sector’s profit margin, in addition to requiring banks to postpone many installments for companies and individuals due to the pandemic.
Profits of banks operating in Saudi Arabia retreated 4.1%, equivalent to 185 million riyals in July of this year, to reach 4.32 billion riyals, compared to 4.5 billion riyals during the same month last year. Since the beginning of the year, banks operating in Saudi Arabia have made profits within six months, compared to losses last June, the first losses since December 2009, i.e. in ten and a half years.
Source (Al-Arabiya.net, Edited)
