2020 was a challenging year across the globe. The Government of Saudi Arabia responded swiftly to offset the adverse impacts of the global health pandemic with a comprehensive set of policy responses and economic support measures, while the Saudi Central Bank ensured the unrelenting robustness of the financial sector through prudent regulatory oversight and support. In 2020 NCB upheld the health and wellbeing of our customers, staff and wider community, while seamlessly delivering services throughout the year, benefiting from its sophisticated technology platform, while growing the business.

As part of its corporate responsibility towards the community, NCB played a vital role in supporting government efforts to confront and mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on the community. In this regard, NCB is the largest Saudi Bank in supporting the Health Endowment Fund and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development’s Social Fund. Also, in recognition of the significant efforts that our healthcare workers are putting in to safeguard the health of our citizens and residents, the Bank decided voluntarily to postpone payments for all health care workers who have credit facilities with the Bank for three months. In addition, many other initiatives were launched by the Bank in line with its corporate responsibility five-year strategy focusing on empowering individuals and non-profit organizations, and supporting community activities across Saudi Arabia.

NCB also maintained its focus on empowering Saudi talents, increasing the Saudization ratio to 98.6%, and increasing female participation in the workforce to 14.2% of the total employees, where 22.7% of new hires during the year were females.

In line with Saudi Vision 2030 priorities, NCB’s resilient performance was underpinned by the strength and diversity of its franchise, and – above all – the relentless execution of our strategy, particularly with an intensified focus on residential finance and digitization. As a part of helping Saudi Citizens own homes, NCB partnered effectively with the Ministry of Housing and the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) programs, whereby the number of Saudi Families benefitting from NCB residential finance products exceeded 93,000 in 2020, with a total value of SAR 74 billion.

The bank also continued to support MSMEs, which are a critical driver of economic growth, through SAR 29 billion of total credit extended, and by being the largest Saudi bank in terms of the value of credit extended to MSME customers under Kafalah program.

In 2020, NCB is once again Saudi Arabia’s most profitable bank, achieving the highest total net operating revenue of SAR 21.46 billion and highest net income to equity holders of SAR 11.44 billion in the sector. Earnings per share was SAR 3.68, and the bank maintained strong credit ratings.

NCB is committed to the principles of corporate governance and the highest international standards in internal controls, risk management, disclosure of results, and developing consolidated annual financial statements.

The Bank continued to increase its range of Shariah-compliant products, with the volume of Shariahcompliant financing reaching 87% in 2020.

NCB is merging with Samba Financial Group, with the aim of building a new Saudi Banking Champion and Regional Financial Powerhouse under a new name, the Saudi National Bank. I am very pleased with the excellent progress achieved and ongoing, and the tremendous opportunities offered by this historic deal to merge two leading banks. I truly believe that this merger will play an important role in the economic transformation agenda of the Kingdom and generate significant value for all stakeholders.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I extend my deepest gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud; to the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud; and to the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. I would also like to thank the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Saudi Central Bank, the Capital Market Authority, the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Investment for their support of the Kingdom’s financial and banking services sector. The swift, decisive and wise actions taken by the nation’s rulers, government and regulators have ensured that the Kingdom has navigated 2020 stronger and more resilient, and we can look forward to a very bright future.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank NCB’s shareholders for their confidence, our valued customers for their trust, and all NCB staff who have worked tirelessly to achieving our aspirations throughout the year.