Riyad Capital says SABB’s Q3 results exceed expectations

Riyad Capital said that Q3 2019 net income of Saudi British Bank (SABB) of SAR 1.06 billion came above its expectations of SAR 478 million.

The brokerage firm said in a research note that the bank’s provisions normalized this quarter coming to SAR 236 million, 86% lower than the second quarter 2019. Operating expenses plunged 53% to SAR 1.3 billion, though increased slightly by 5% YoY due to incorporating SAR 137 million of merger related costs.

Riyad Capital maintained its “neutral” recommendation towards SABB share, with a target price of SAR 31 per share.