Samba Financial Group, Saudi Arabia's second largest lender by market value, said its net profit fell 13.5 per cent in the fourth quarter, in line with analysts' forecasts.

Samba made SR826 million ($220.3 million) in the three months to December 31, down from SR955 million a year earlier, the bank said in a statement on the bourse website.

Analysts' forecasts of the bank's fourth-quarter earnings ranged from SR741.9 million to SR1.14 billion, according to a Reuters survey last month.-Reuters