Riyadh – Mubasher: Alinma Bank has invested SAR 16 billion ($4.27 billion) in sukuk, including SAR 13 billion ($3.47 billion) in government sukuk, the lender’s CEO told Al Arabiya.

The 30% year-on-year growth in the Saudi lender’s financing and investment portfolio in the first quarter of 2019 has largely contributed to the bank’s profit growth in Q1-19, Abdulmohsen Al Fares noted.

Moreover, the profit increase was also supported by the launch of new services in Q1-19 including the multi-currency traveller card, he added.

In Q1-19, the Saudi bank’s profits surged 21.8% year-on-year to SAR 709 million, compared to SAR 582 million.

Quarter-on-quarter, Alinma Bank’s profits rose 7.3% from SAR 661 million in Q4-18.

Meanwhile, the bank’s investments amounted to SAR 20.73 billion in the first three months of 2019, up from SAR 15.94 billion in the year-ago period.

In February, Saudi banks raised their government bonds holdings by 22.9%, or SAR 61.77 billion, year-on-year to SAR 331.16 billion from SAR 269.39 billion, according to data released by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA).