JEDDAH – Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Bank posted a 13.6 percent rise in its second quarter net profit, helped by a 12.3 percent jump in operating income, it said in a statement posted on the bourse website Tuesday. The Kingdom's biggest Islamic lender made SR2.1 billion ($560 million) in the three months ended June 30 compared with SR1.8 billion a year earlier. The bank said it would pay a dividend of SR1.25 per share for the first half of the year, after the deduction of zakat. Saudi banks are benefiting from the government's expansionary fiscal policy, ample liquidity and improving corporate loan demand, according to a July 2 report from Deutsche Bank, which predicted second-quarter net profits across the sector would increase 6 percent year-on-year. Loan growth continues to be strong in the Kingdom, with credit growth up 14.7 percent year-on-year in May, according to figures from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. Al Rajhi said its total assets rose 10.7 percent from a year earlier to SR238 billion at the end of June, while customer deposits climbed 12 percent to SR186 billion. The results were in line with forecasts by eight analysts surveyed by Reuters, who had expected the bank to post an average profit of SR2 billion. – SG/Reuters
