State-owned NCB is latest Saudi bank to post weaker Q3

National Commercial Bank (NCB), the biggest Saudi bank by assets, had a 19 per cent drop in quarterly profit as the country's banking sector continues to grapple with bad loan provisions as some family-owned firms struggle to pay off debt.

Unlisted NCB said it made a net profit of 3.47 billion riyals ($925 million) in the nine months to end-September but did not give an earning figure for the third-quarter alone.

The state-owned NCB, slated for privatisation, had reported a 2.64bn riyals in net profit for the six months to end-June, 2010, which would translate into a third quarter profit of 830m riyals, down 19.4 per cent from 1.03bn riyals a year earlier.