LONDON: Banque Saudi Fransi shares fell by 3.1 percent on Sunday after a rise in impairments led to a drop in profits.
The increase in impairments was the main factor in a 6.4 percent fall in profit last year to SR3.31 billion ($882.56 million), the Riyadh-based lender said in a filing to the Tadawul.
Overall operating expenses spiked by more than 14 percent last year. “This increase in total operating expenses was primarily due to higher impairment charge for credit losses and for other financial assets,” the bank said in the statement.
However, the credit losses were partially offset by a reduction in other operating expenses at the bank, including rent, salaries and administrative costs.
Impairments for credit losses jumped by 69.5 percent over the quarter to SR878 million. The increase was even more pronounced over the year as total impairments rose by more than 80 percent to SR1.2 billion.
While successive US interest rate rises have helped regional lenders boost their interest income on loans in the past year, they are also coming under pressure from a weaker oil price and regional economic slowdown that is hurting many of their customers.
A wave of banking sector consolidation is underway in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia as lenders seek to trim costs
in response to changing economic realities.
Saudi Arabia’s biggest lender, National Commercial Bank, revealed in December that it was in takeover talks with Riyad Bank.
Meanwhile, in the UAE, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Union National Bank and Al Hilal Bank have also agreed a three-way merger, creating the third-largest bank in the country.
Despite the tougher economic conditions across the region, some analysts remain upbeat on the performance of the banking sector in Saudi Arabia.
“The challenges for Saudi banks in 2019 include growing loan books outside of retail mortgages; containing any increase in cost of funds if oil prices remain weak; driving cost efficiency through digitization; and countering competition from digital-payment platforms,” Aqib Mehboob, an analyst at Saudi Fransi Capital in Riyadh, told Bloomberg last month.
“The SABB-Alawwal merger and potential NCB and Riyad Bank merger may drive other banks to evaluate opportunities to gain scale,” he said.
Saudi Fransi hit by impairment rise
Saudi Fransi hit by impairment rise
US strike on Yemen fuel port kills at least 58, Houthi media say
- The US has vowed not to halt the large-scale strikes begun last month, unless the Houthis cease attacks on Red Sea shipping
WASHINGTON: US strikes on a fuel port in Yemen killed at least 58 people, Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said, one of the deadliest since the United States began its attacks on the Iran-backed militants.
The United States has vowed not to halt the large-scale strikes begun last month in its biggest military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January, unless the Houthis cease attacks on Red Sea shipping.
Al Masirah TV said 126 people were also wounded in Thursday’s strikes on the western fuel port of Ras Isa, which the US military said aimed to cut off a source of fuel for the Houthi militant group.
Responding to a Reuters query for comment on the Houthis’ casualty figure and its own estimate, the US Central Command said it had none beyond the initial announcement of the attacks.
“The objective of these strikes was to degrade the economic source of power of the Houthis, who continue to exploit and bring great pain upon their fellow countrymen,” it had said in a post on X.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched dozens of drone and missile attacks on vessels transiting the waterway, saying they were targeting ships linked to Israel in protest over the war in Gaza.
They halted attacks on shipping lanes during a two-month ceasefire in Gaza. Although they vowed to resume strikes after Israel renewed its assault on Gaza last month, they have not claimed any since.
In March, two days of US attacks killed more than 50 people, Houthi officials said.
Lebanon says one killed in a renewed Israeli strike near Sidon
- Israel has continued to carry out near-daily strikes in Lebanon
Beirut: Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike on Friday hit a vehicle near the southern coastal city of Sidon, killing one person.
Despite a November 27 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of conflict — including two months of all-out war — between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has continued to carry out near-daily strikes in Lebanon.
“The attack carried out by the Israeli enemy against a car on the Sidon-Ghaziyeh road resulted in one dead,” said a health ministry statement on the fourth consecutive day of Israeli attacks on the south where Israel says it has targeted Hezbollah militants.
An AFP journalist said the Israeli attack hit a four-wheel-drive vehicle, sending a pillar of black smoke into the sky.
The Lebanese army sealed off the area as firemen fought the blaze.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strike, but the Israeli military has said it was behind previous attacks this week that it said killed members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
Hezbollah, significantly weakened by the war, insists it is adhering to the November ceasefire, even as Israeli attacks persist.
Russia rains missiles on Ukraine as US mulls ending truce efforts
- US President Donald Trump has been pressing Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a truce
- There has been no major concessions from the Kremlin, despite repeated negotiations between his administration and Russia
KHARKIV, Ukraine: Russia fired a fresh volley of missiles and drones at Ukraine overnight, wounding dozens of people, Kyiv said Friday, as the United States warned it could end efforts to broker a ceasefire if it did not see progress soon.
US President Donald Trump has been pressing Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a truce, but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin, despite repeated negotiations between his administration and Russia on the three-year war.
After meeting European officials in Paris to discuss Ukraine, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington needed to figure out soon whether a ceasefire was “doable in the short term.”
“Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on,” he told reporters at Le Bourget airport before leaving the French capital.
Russia fired at least six missiles and dozens of drones at Ukraine overnight, killing two people in the eastern regions of Kharkiv and Sumy and wounding 70 others, officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed the attack, which came just days before Easter.
“This is how Russia started Good Friday – with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, Shahed drones. A mockery of our people and cities,” he said on Telegram.
An AFP photographer in the city of Kharkiv witnessed the aftermath of one strike, which left rubble and debris scattered across a street.
An elderly resident could be seen bandaged, her face smeared with blood, while residents assessed the damage.
Since taking office Trump has embarked on a quest to warm ties with the Kremlin that has alarmed Kyiv and driven a wedge between the US and its European allies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin last month rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for a full and unconditional pause in the conflict, while the Kremlin has made a truce in the Black Sea conditional on the West lifting certain sanctions.
Trump has also repeatedly expressed anger and frustration at Zelensky in a marked break from policy under his predecessor, Joe Biden.
The US is pushing Ukraine into a deal that would give Washington sweeping access to its mineral resources.
Ukraine’s prime minister will visit Washington next week for talks with top US officials aimed at clinching the minerals and resources deal by April 26, according to a US-Ukraine signed “memorandum of intent” published Friday.
Trump wants the deal – designed to give the United States royalty payments on profits from Ukrainian mining of resources and rare minerals – as compensation for aid given to Ukraine under Biden.
France hosted meetings between US and European officials in Paris on Thursday, saying the talks had launched a “positive process.”
The meetings included French President Emmanuel Macron, Rubio and US envoy Steve Witkoff.
European officials had expressed dismay at being shut out from the peace process, while Ukraine has expressed concern that Witkoff – one of Trump’s closest allies – is biased toward Russia.
Zelensky accused Witkoff on Thursday of having adopted the “strategy of the Russian side,” after the US envoy suggested a peace deal with Moscow hinged on the status of Ukraine’s occupied territories.
“He is consciously or unconsciously, I don’t know, spreading Russian narratives,” Zelensky told journalists.
Witkoff told Fox News on Monday that a peace settlement depended on “so-called five territories” – the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea, that Russia claims to have annexed.
The Kremlin wants its claims over the regions to be recognized as part of any peace deal, a proposal that Ukraine has balked at. Moscow does not fully control any of them except for Crimea, which it seized in 2014.
Zelensky also said Thursday he had “information” China was supplying weapons to Russia, amid an escalating row between Kyiv and Beijing over China’s support for Moscow.
China, which has portrayed itself as a neutral party in the three-year war, has hit back at Kyiv’s criticism and called on all parties in the conflict to refrain from “irresponsible remarks.”
11th Saudi Film Festival opens with a night of cinema, culture, stars
DHAHRAN: The red carpet was rolled out for the 11th edition of the Saudi Film Festival on Thursday, as the event confirmed its role as a cornerstone of the Kingdom’s burgeoning movie culture.
Hosted by the dynamic duo — Saudi actors Aixa Kay and Khaled Saqer — the celebration at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) in Dhahran was brimming with glamor and drama.
Saudi opera singer Mohammed Khayran Al-Zahrani and renowned French soprano Fabienne Conrad serenaded the crowd, while a live orchestra performed a medley of classical renditions of popular film scores under the direction of maestro Gevorg Sargsyan.
The event was organized by the Cinema Association in strategic partnership with Ithra — an Aramco initiative — and was supported by the Saudi Film Commission of the Ministry of Culture.
This year’s festival, with the theme “Cinema of Identity,” delves into the power of storytelling to reflect and shape cultural, personal and collective narratives.
At the opening, Cinema Association chairwoman Hana Al-Omair emphasized the theme’s significance.
“We present this year’s edition at a time when Saudi film production is undergoing noticeable growth. Saudi films are no longer rare appearances; they are now competing for prime slots in Arab cinemas. This reflects an artistic momentum worth pausing and reflecting upon,” she said.
She also highlighted the festival’s special focus.
“In addition to the usual festival activities, we are shining a spotlight on the Japanese cinema experience, which has had a profound impact on world cinema, thanks to its artistic schools, rich experience and global history,” she said.
Opening night saw visitors treated to the premiere of “Siwar” by Osama Al-Khuraiji.
The program, which runs until April 23, is packed with events including a steady stream of stars, film screenings, seminars, workshops, masterclasses and the coveted Golden Palm awards.
Since its founding in 2008, the Saudi Film Festival has become the Kingdom’s longest-running cinematic event.
This year, 36 out of 68 screenings are Saudi and Gulf films, comprising eight narrative features, 21 shorts and seven documentaries. Parts of the proceedings, and some other festival events, are being live-streamed.
For more information about buying tickets, visit the Ithra website.
‘Maknana’ exhibition at Diriyah to feature works of over 40 Arab artists
Diriyah Art Futures, the first new media arts hub in the MENA region, has announced its second major exhibition titled Maknana: An Archaeology of New Media Art in the Arab World.
Co-curated by artists and curators Haytham Nawar and Ala Younis, the exhibition will run from April 21 to July 19 at DAF at Diriyah, Riyadh.
Bringing together works by more than 40 artists from the MENA region, the exhibition features pioneering voices from across the region who have embraced and redefined technology as a medium for creative expression.
The exhibition includes notable Saudi artists such as Ahmed Mater, Muhannad Shono, and ARC (Abdullah Rashed), whose practices reflect the Kingdom’s dynamic and evolving relationship with new media.
They are joined by influential artists from across the region such as VJ Um Amel (Laila Shereen Sakr, Egypt); Emily Jacir (Palestine); Akram Zaatari (Lebanon), Abdel Hadi El-Gazzar (Egypt), Hassan Meer (Oman), Hicham Berrada (Morocco/France), Mona Hatoum (Palestine), Walid Raad (Palestine) and Farah Al-Qasimi (UAE).
Spanning decades and disciplines, from early video art and experimental film to generative systems and expanded media, Maknana offers a rare survey of how Arab artists have engaged with and reimagined the digital landscape on their own terms.
The Arabic term ‘Maknana,’ translated as automation, inspires the exhibition’s central inquiry: how Arab artists have navigated, repurposed, and challenged technologies to shape their own creative vocabularies.
The exhibition is structured across four thematic sections, Automation, Autonomy, Ripples, and Glitch, that trace recurring artistic concerns and gestures across different generations, geographies, and technological paradigms.
Highlighting a dynamic constellation of artistic practices, Maknana includes rare archival works, recent digital experiments, and new commissions from artists working across the region and diaspora.
Their works engage with urgent sociopolitical contexts, from networked resistance and machine logic to memory preservation, speculative ecologies, and glitch aesthetics.
In tandem with the exhibition, Diriyah Art Futures will present a public program of talks, performances, screenings, and workshops, expanding on the themes of Maknana and offering visitors direct engagement with artists and thought leaders in the field of new media art.
