National Commercial Bank (NCB), Saudi Arabia’s largest bank by assets, has recorded a profit of SR2.64bn ($704m) in the first half of 2010.

This is an increase of 18 per cent over the same period last year.

The state-owned lender made a profit of SR1.23bn in the three months to the end of June, a 3.4 per cent rise on the SR1.19bn it had reported for the second quarter last year.

Net lending income rose 3.8 per cent, while banking fees, which include brokerage commissions and foreign exchange, gained 1.2 per cent.