SNB crowned as Middle East’s biggest bank

Saudi National Bank (SNB) has dislodged Qatar National Bank (QNB) from the top of the Middle East table in The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking for 2022, becoming the first Saudi lender to lead the table since 2016.

Middle Eastern lenders have performed well against their international peers in this year’s ranking, with economies in the Gulf and Israel in particular benefiting from a recovery in oil prices and rapid vaccine rollouts, respectively. After a mixed performance last year, 21 of the region’s 25 largest lenders have achieved improved positions in this year’s ranking, with each reporting improved pre-tax profits as impairments fell.

The ascent of SNB — formed by the merger of National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group — to the top of the regional table has been expected since the initial announcement of the deal in June 2020. At the end of its first year as a consolidated entity, SNB’s Tier 1 capital base stood at $32.63bn, placing it in 67th place in the overall Top 1000 ranking.

The bank — which sits in third place for the region in terms of assets, behind QNB and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) — has been one of the main beneficiaries of the country’s booming mortgage market, along with the region’s fifth-largest lender Al Rajhi. SNB is likely to see further benefit from a potential rise in government spending in the coming years, following a large windfall from higher oil prices in 2022.

Qatar’s Masraf Al Rayan, which enters this year’s regional Top 25 at number 22, is one of the other main Middle Eastern gainers in this year’s rankings, once again largely as a result of a merger. The lender, which finalised the acquisition of domestic rival Al Khaliji in November, saw its Tier 1 capital base increase by 56.6% to $5.75bn, enough to lift it 93 places in the overall ranking to 259th position.

The UAE’s FAB and Emirates NBD remain in third and fourth, respectively, in the regional table. The country’s lenders had a mixed year in the Top 1000, with Emirates NBD and Dubai Islamic Bank both reporting a slight decrease in their Tier 1 capital and assets — and a corresponding drop in the Top 1000 ranking — for the year, attributable to currency translation and a drop in net financing and sukuk investments, respectively.

Saudi British Bank was the only other lender in the regional Top 25 to post a marginal drop in assets for the year, due to a reduction in cash and balances held at the Saudi Central Bank.

Outside of the Arab world, lenders in Israel — one of the earliest countries in the region to fully reopen after the coronavirus pandemic — continue to flourish in the regional table. Bank Leumi rose by 15 places to 131st overall and sixth in the region, overtaking Bank Hapoalim to become the country’s largest lender by Tier 1 capital. Also notable was the performance of Israel Discount Bank, which climbed 20 places to 223rd in the overall rankings.

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