Riyadh – Mubasher: Bank AlJazira reported a 7.3% year-on-year net profit increase in the first quarter of 2019.

The Saudi lender’s net profits totalled SAR 263.3 million in Q1-19, compared to SAR 245.3 million in the prior-year period, according to a statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) on Sunday.

Quarter-on-quarter, the bank’s profits rose 6.8% from SAR 246.5 million in Q4-18.

The Q1-19 profit growth was attributed to the 8% increase in operating income, driven by higher “net special commission income, net exchange income, net banking fee, and gain on non-trading investments,” the statement added.

The Saudi bank’s investments grew 10.9% to SAR 24.19 billion in the first three months of 2019 from SAR 21.8 billion in the year-ago period.

As for Q4-18, Bank AlJazira’s profits soared 27.26% to SAR 246.5 million from SAR 193.7 million in the October-to-December period of 2017.