A look at Saudi-listed banks’ dividend distributions for 2020 so far

A total of six Saudi-listed banks, namely Al Rajhi Bank, Riyad Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF), Alinma Bank, Arab National Bank (ANB) and The Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB) announced dividend distributions for 2020.

Al Rajhi Bank’s distributions dropped 67% year-on-year (YoY) in 2020, followed by Riyad Bank (-53% YoY), BSF (-80% YoY), ANB (-60% YoY).

In February, Bank Albilad CEO confirmed that there are no restrictions from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) on profit distributions to shareholders in light of COVID-19 pandemic.

The Saudi economy was negatively affected by COVID-19 in 2020. To counter the effects, SAMA pumped SAR 50 billion to enhance liquidity in the banking sector and boosted its role in providing credit facilities to the private sector.

Late in November 2020, SAMA announced extending the deferred payment program to support the private sector until Q1 2021.

According to data compiled by Argaam, Saudi banks’ aggregate profits declined 23% YoY in 2020 to about SAR 34.7 billion. 

Also, the Q4 2020 financial results of all banks, except Al Rajhi Bank, were below the average expectations of analysts. 

It is noteworthy that nine Saudi-listed banks distributed cash dividends for 2019, while Alinma Bank and Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB) did not distribute payouts.