RIYADH: Shares of Saudi National Bank, the Kingdom’s largest lender, gained in Wednesday trading after posting 59 percent surge in profit to SR9 billion ($2.4 billion) for the first half of 2022. This is against the SR5.7 billion profit the Saudi-listed bank had reported in the corresponding period last year, a bourse filing showed. In response to the positive results, the bank"s shares went up almost 0.7 percent to SR69.9 at the session"s closing bell, amid trading of more than three million shares. The profit hike came as total operating profit surged 24 percent to SR16.4 billion from SR13.3 billion during the same period a year ago. SNB also attributed the strong figures to a drop in expenses of 12.5 percent, mainly due to lower impairment charges for credit losses.