The Saudi British Bank’s (SABB), an associated company of the HSBC Group, has been assigned a “Aa3 long-term deposit ratings” by Moody's Investors Service with a stable outlook.

Moody's decision to confirm the ratings of the Saudi bank at their current level was driven by the rating agency's observation of improvement in the bank's asset quality and profitability metrics.

“SABB’s solid overall financial fundamentals, deposit-funded profile, well-established local franchise across all of its main business lines and its franchise-enhancing with HSBC Holdings which supports SABB’s systems, risk-management processes, management caliber and product range,” said the ratings agency in its report,

Commenting on the affirmation, David Dew, the managing director of SABB, said: “We are pleased with Moody’s rating confirmation and the stable outlook. It is an indication of SABB’s continuous prudent risk management and the scale and diversity of our operations, which have enabled the Bank to deliver sound and strong performance.”

For the first nine months, SABB had recorded a net profit of SR2.42 billion, up SR192 million (8.6 per cent) better than the same period in 2011.

This is primarily attributable to SABB's diversified income streams, ongoing cost controls and emphasis on booking quality assets while maintaining strong capital and liquidity ratios.-TradeArabia News Service