Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank (NCB), the kingdom's biggest bank by assets, posted a 12.9 per cent rise in its second-quarter net profit, the lender said on Wednesday.

State-owned NCB made a net profit of SR1.6 billion ($427 million) in the three months ended June 30, compared with 1.4 billion riyals in the same period a year earlier, it said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

NCB said its loans and advances portfolio increased by 15.4 per cent to SR150 billion, while its net income from special commissions rose 7 percent. It did not give absolute figures.

On Tuesday four other major Saudi banks announced second-quarter profits that either beat or met analyst expectations, aided by rising demand for loans.

Last month NCB Capital said profit growth for Saudi banks this year would be driven by strong growth in loan volumes, particularly in the retail segment.-Reuters