Saudi banks’ third-quarter results might have been much worse given that the reporting period closely followed two of the most shocking credit events ever seen in the Kingdom. Aggregate net income of the seven Saudi banks covered by Credit Suisse fell 5% on the second quarter.
In the second quarter, debt repayment troubles at two of the Kingdom’s biggest businesses – the Saad and Al Gosaibi groups – raised concerns about what HSBC estimated was a total of between $4 billion and $7 billion owed to Saudi banks by the two groups. Afterwards, there was a general shying away from Saudi family businesses, exacerbating an...
