DUBAI: Riyad Bank, Saudi Arabia's fourth-largest lender by assets, posted a 0.2 rise in first-quarter net profit on Wednesday, ahead of analysts' forecasts.
The bank said it made 1.17 billion riyals ($321.3 million) in the three months to Mar. 31, citing an 8.4 percent decline in operating expenses for the marginal increase in earnings.
This helped to offset a 3.5 percent drop in total operating income, which dipped due to a fall in fee and commission income and lower gains from non-trading and investments, it said.
Four analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast the bank's quarterly profit would be 962.34 million riyals.
Saudi companies issue brief earnings statements early in the reporting period before publishing more detailed results later.
Riyad Bank has been hampered in recent quarters by higher provisioning and a rate of loan growth generally below the average for the sector. It had reported falling earnings in the last three quarters.
Loans and advances at the end of March stood at 152.56 billion riyals, gaining 10.52 percent on the same point of 2015, while deposits edged 0.1 percent up to 165.2 billion riyals over the same period.
Reuters
