SNB and Alrajhi profits soar as Saudi companies borrow more

• Alrajhi logs 32% increase for 2025
• SNB comprehensive income up 25%
• Both cite higher fees from banking services

Profits at Saudi Arabia’s two biggest listed banks rose by a quarter or more in 2025 as financial institutions expanded lending.

Saudi National Bank, the country’s largest by assets, and Alrajhi, the kingdom’s second-largest lender and the biggest Islamic bank in the world, released annual financial results to the Saudi Exchange on Tuesday morning.

SNB reported a 25 percent gain in comprehensive income to SAR26.8 billion ($7.2 billion) while Alrajhi logged a 32 percent increase year on year to SAR26.8 billion.

SNB and Alrajhi’s assets rose 9 percent and 7 percent, respectively, to SAR1.2 trillion and SAR1 trillion.

Both credited increased fees from banking services as a reason for the profit increase.

The Saudi financial sector has benefited from heightened borrowing in recent years. According to ratings agency S&P Global, retail lending in Saudi Arabia rose 5 percent last year through November 30 to hit $18 billion.

S&P forecasts that this will increase to $20 billion in 2026, with banks extending between $65 billion and $75 billion in corporate loans.

SNB and Alrajhi’s annual profit has more than doubled since 2020 amid increased borrowing by companies and government entities to fund Vision 2030 projects.

“We expect banks’ profitability to remain strong. However, it will likely decline slightly due to lower interest rates,” the S&P report read. “We expect that strong lending growth will partly mitigate the pressure on net interest margins, which we believe will contract only slightly.”

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S&P expects the banking sector to keep borrowing on international markets to continue lending within Saudi Arabia.

In November last year, the net foreign assets of Saudi commercial banks dropped deeper into deficit, reaching -SAR197 billion.

SNB’s share price of SAR43 has risen around a third in the past year. Alrajhi’s share price of SAR106 has gained about 11 percent over the same period.