RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s largest lender in terms of assets, Saudi National Bank, or SNB, has reported an annual increase in profit of 10.7 percent in 2021. Profits hit SR12.7 billion ($3.38 billion), compared to SR11.4 billion a year earlier, according to a bourse filing. The profit per share went down from SR3.68 to SR2.99. The bank attributed the improved performance to a series of effects that followed the NCB-Samba merger. After the transaction, SNB reported a profit hike, mainly driven by a rise in operating income of 32.6 percent. The bank noted such gains were slightly capped by higher operating expenses, which increased by 63.2 percent due to a rise in net impairment charge of expected credit losses pertaining to the merger. Net impairment charge reached SR3.9 billion in 2021, having increased 101 percent year-on-year. The final phases of the merger with Riyadh-based Samba Group were concluded Jan. 6, 2022. SNB concluded the last phase of the transaction in a record time, within nine months since the process started on April 1, 2021, making it the region’s largest and fastest merger.