RIYADH – The Saudi British Bank (SABB) recorded a net profit of SR1.77 billion for the six months ended June 30, 2012, an increase of SR166 million or 10.4 percent compared to SR1.60 billion for the same period in 2011. SABB recorded a net profit of SR915 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012, an increase of SR61 million or 7.1 percent as compared to the three months ended March 31, 2012, which amounted to SR854 million. Operating income rose 1.8 percent to SR2.61 billion for the six months, an increase of SR45 million compared with SR2.57 billion for the same period in 2011. Customer deposits climbed to SR117.6 billion, an increase of SR18.4 billion or 18.6 percent, compared with SR99.2 billion as of June 30, 2011. Loans and advances to customers reached SR94.7 billion, an increase of SR14.9 billion, or 18.7 percent from SR79.8 billion as of June 30, 2011. The bank's investment portfolio totaled SR27.8 billion in the first half of 2012, an increase of 6.8 percent compared with SR26.1 billion in the same period last year. Total assets were SR151.9 billion compared with SR129.5 billion in the six-month period, an increase of 17.3 percent or SR22.4 billion against the preceding year. Earnings per share hit SR1.77 for the six months this year against SR1.60 (adjusted to bonus share issue 1 for 3 shares as a result of the bank's capital increase from SR7.5 billion to SR10 billion) for the corresponding period of the previous year. Khaled Olayan, Chairman of SABB, said: "SABB has recorded another strong financial performance for the six months ended June 30, 2012 supported by its diversified income streams and effective cost controls. SABB has continued to focus on booking quality assets and maintaining balance sheet growth while preserving strong asset quality, capital and liquidity positions." "We thank our customers for their continued support and our staff for their commitment and contribution to the bank's success." – SG
