Banks in Saudi Arabia add 92 new branches in H1

The 23 banks operating in Saudi Arabia have expanded their branch network size to 1860 branches and outlets by the end of the first half of 2014, compared to 1768 by end of 2013, adding 92 new branches, a Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) report said.

Riyad Bank was the biggest contributor to the increase opening 51 new branches in the first half, followed by Al-Rajhi Bank with 15 branches, and the National Commercial Bank (Al-Ahli) and Bank Al-Bilad with seven branches each.

Banque Saudi Fransi shut one branch in the same period.

Saudi Arabia has 23 operational banks, of which 11 are listed on the stock market, besides the unlisted National Commercial Bank (Al-Ahli).

Saudi local banks expanded their branch network to 1847 branches at the end of the first half, led by Al-Rajhi (494 branches), Al-Ahli (329 branches), Riyad Bank (303) and the Arab National Bank (153).

With regard to geographical distribution, Riyadh hosted the biggest number of branches per city with 564 branches, followed by Makkah (409 branches) and the Eastern Province (353 branches).

The average asset size per branch (across the board) rose remarkably by the end of the first half of 2014 to SAR 1.092 billion compared to SAR 1.071 billion by end of 2013, while the average deposits size per branch climbed to SAR 804 million, and average loans expended per branch recorded SAR 653 million.