Riyadh – Mubasher: The net profits of Bank Albilad dropped by 5.2% to SAR 270 million during the first three months of 2020, compared to SAR 284.9 million in the same period of 2019.

The decrease in net profits was driven by a 5% decline in net income due to a 16% increase in total operating expenses as well as a rise in the impairment charge for credit and other financial assets and staff expenses, according to the bank's interim financial results for the first quarter (Q1) of 2020.

On the other hand, total operating income jumped by 9%.

The bank reported assets of SAR 88.497 billion in Q1-2020, up 21.39% from SAR 72.901 billion during the year-ago period.

The earnings per share (EPS) settled at SAR 0.36 during the January-March period, versus SAR 0.38 in the corresponding period of 2019.

It is noteworthy to mention that in 2019, the bank's net profits increased by around 103% to SAR 1.24 billion, compared with SAR 612.7 million for 2018.