Samba Financial Group posted Sunday a 30 percent rise in annual net profit to reach $1 billion, helped by a lower charge for Zakat, or Islamic tax, and a double-digit rise in revenue from special commissions, financing and investments last year. Samba said in the filing of its financial results that its 2019 net profit was $1.06 billion, up from $816 million a year earlier. In addition, other cash flow indicators showed a recovery in the banks operations, where the total revenue from special commissions, financing and investment activity climbed 11.8 percent to $2.2 billion. Zakat expenses declined last year compared to 2018, which included settlements for previous Zakat payment. Loans and advances surged 24.5 percent to $37.7 billion at the end of 2019, while customer deposits rose almost 5.9 percent to $48 billion on an annual basis. Samba pointed to an increase in operating expenses by 52.7 percent as a result of the increase in the provision for low credit and salaries, as well as the amortization and other general and administrative expenses, partly offset by a decrease in expenses related to rent and buildings. Separately, the group confirmed that since June of 2019 it had followed the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and other standards and statements approved by the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA), as the bank changed its accounting policy to disclose Zakat and income tax. Accordingly, the bank disclosed the Zakat and income tax through the income statement for the year ending in 2019, and repeated the statement of the year ending in 2018, at a time when Zakat and income tax were previously disclosed in the list of changes in equity.