Alinma Bank’s Q1 net profit beats expectations: Aljazira Capital

Alinma Bank’s net profit of SAR 709 million for the first quarter in 2019, has beaten Aljazira Capital’s estimates by 10.5 percent, the brokerage said in an earnings report.

The deviation occurred as the other operating income stood at SAR 297 million, compared to the estimate of SAR 209.9 million, it said.

The bank attributed the strong performance to increase in fee from banking services and income from FVIS financial instruments, it added.

“We believe that Alinma’s strong performance and higher operating income was a result of solid loans and deposit growth along with higher lending rates environment,” the report said.

Operating expenses reached SAR 581 million, slightly above the estimates of SAR 565 million.

Deposits amounted to SAR 92.3 billion, higher than the expectation of SAR 90.5 billion. Loans were also above estimates at 85.9 billion.

“For FY19, we expect Alinma to post earnings of SAR 2.77 billion, depicting a jump of 10 percent,” Aljazira Capital said.

The firm recommended a “Neutral” rating on the stock with a target price of SAR 26.8 per share.