Saudi banks can weather COVID-19 crisis despite pressure on profitability: officials

The Saudi banks have strong capital buffers that would help them weather the coronavirus crisis, despite lower oil prices, as well as pressure on profitability and loan growth, banking executives told Reuters.

Ammar Alkhudairy, chairman of Samba Financial Group, said profitability would be pressured by lower net interest margins, and possibly higher non-performing loans (NPLs), among other things.

“The margin compression will cause us, as well as all other banks, some profitability deterioration,” he said, adding that the bank allocated extra NPL provisions in the first quarter.

Loan growth may not be the number one priority for banks right now, amid the current conditions, Alkhudairy noted, adding that he expects mortgage financing to maintain strong growth.

Elsewhere, David Dew, managing director of Saudi British Bank (SABB), said that this crisis is not going to be over in a very short period of time.

“The second and probably third quarters will remain challenging and 2020 will be a tough year,” Dew added.