Yet again, Saudi Arabia’s banks dominate The Banker’s Top 100 Arab banks listing but, as Stephen Timewell reports, there is good news across the region.

Independents stay ahead of the pack, acquisitions continue apace and rationalisation is under way.

Despite the massive market correction earlier in the year, there is no sign of Gulf banks’ growth abating as they continue to reap the benefits of the region’s oil-fuelled bonanza. 

The Top 1000 World Banks is a ranking of the world’s commercial banks. Wherever possible, consolidated figures have been taken for the banking group. However, in the case of bancassurance groups, where possible, the figures reflect the banking business only.

The Banker utilises the cost/income ratio as a gauge of efficiency in banks globally. There are variations in the method of calculation across different geographies, however, we try to create a worldwide picture through the data collated here.

The highest and second highest disclosed number of non-performing loans (NPLs) this year were from Philippine National Bank (PNB) at 51.63% and Myanmar Oriental Bank (MOB) at 39.15%, respectively, retaining the positions they held last year. PNB’s level has risen and MOB’s level remained the same.

The geographical structure of the 2006 Top 1000 world banks, perhaps surprisingly, remains largely unchanged from previous years: a handful or so fewer banks in the expanded European Union (EU25) this year, a few more in Asia, a few less in Japan.

For the third successive year, the world’s top banks have produced record pre-tax profits, with The Banker’s 2006 Top 1000 World Banks listing, based on fiscal 2005 results, showing an 18.6% increase in profits to an unprecedented $645.1bn.

As last year, competition for producing the highest number of newcomers is between the US and Germany. The US introduces 13 new banks to the global listing, representing almost a quarter of the 54 new entries, Germany boasts eight, while China and Nigeria follow with six and five respectively.

Topping the highest movers of the Top 1000 world banks ranking is in itself an impressive achievement. Gaining this position for two years running deserves special recognition.