DUBAI, July 19 (Reuters) - Saudi British Bank (SABB), the kingdom's fifth-largest bank by assets, posted a 1.2percent increase in its second-quarter net profit on Tuesday, inline with analyst forecasts as earnings from special commissionsrose.
The bank, an affiliate of HSBC Holdings, said itmade 1.15 billion riyals ($306.6 million) in the three monthsending June 30, compared with 1.14 billion riyals in the sameperiod a year earlier, according to a bourse filing.
Four analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected thebank to post a net profit of 1.11 billion riyals for thequarter.
The main driver for the earnings gain was a 10.8 percentincrease in profits from special commissions to 1.18 billionriyals, which helped boost total operating income by 5.1percent.
This helped to offset a 7.1 percent jump in total operatingexpenses, where a reduction in impairments for bad loans wasovershadowed by higher salaries.
Saudi companies issue brief earnings statements early in thereporting period before publishing more detailed results later. ($1 = 3.7504 riyals) (Reporting by David French; Editing by Greg Mahlich)