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Riyadh: Riyad Bank, Saudi Arabia's sixth-largest lender by market value, beat profit forecasts by expanding its lending business in the second quarter to compensate for tumbling stock market revenue.
The bank, which reported declines in net profit over the past three quarters, said earnings rose 24.3 per cent from the year-earlier period to 848 million riyals ($226.1 million).
Analysts forecasts for Riyad Bank's second quarter profit ranged from 595.82 million riyals to 714.50 million riyals, according to a Reuters survey last month.
The stock surged 4.41 per cent on the news. "The growth in profit is due to growth in the core banking activities," chairman Rashid Abdul Aziz Al Rashid said in a statement on the bourse's website.
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