RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s banking sector witnessed a sturdy growth in net profit of 22.83 percent in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year, according to KPMG. The global accounting firm analyzed the performance of Saudi’s 10 listed banks and noted the sector recorded a net income of SR14.76 billion ($3.93 billion) in the first quarter of the year. This was up from SR12.02 billion during the same period last year. The total assets of these 10 listed banks increased by 3.75 percent to SR3146 billion in the first three months of 2022. The report further added that the banking sector, at the close of 2021, showed a resurgence after the pandemic with an increase in profit of 40.15 percent. The KPMG report noted that the expected credit loss charge declined by 11.47 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2022. Saudi banks’ total equity stands at SR474 billion as of end of 2021, yielding an average return on equity of 10.3 percent against 7.46 percent in 2020. According to the report, the substantial growth in net income is largely driven by a decline in the impairment charge of 29 percent in the financial year 2021 compared to a year earlier. “Banks are responding to the requirements of the government to achieve greater economic development while considering the threats and opportunities permeating an evolving technological and risk environment,” Abdullah Hamad Al Fozan, chairman and CEO of KPMG Professional Services, wrote in his forward in the report. He added: “SAMA has taken new players in the financial sector under its wing and has embraced a positive attitude toward new technology to usher banking into the future.”