GCC banks are hitting us with their 2022 first-quarter reports — from the UAE to Saudi Arabia.

Starting with the UAE, Dubai Islamic Bank, the UAE’s largest Sharia-compliant lender by assets and the second largest in the world, is seeing strong growth. The bank reported a 57% net profit jump, to $367m from $230m last year, due to a 44% decline in impairment charges and an increase in operating revenue.

Saudi National Bank (SNB), Saudi’s largest lender, reports a 32% jump in net profits reaching $1.2b compared to 2021’s first-quarter $0.9b net profit. The half indirectly State-owned bank reports higher operating incomes, banking service fees, and foreign exchange income as reasons.

Similar reasons are cited for Saudi British Bank, an HSBC Holdings affiliate — a 4% increase in net profit totaling $267.7m. The profit results beat analyst expectations of $215m.

Increasing net financing for customers, investment incomes, and banking service fees have increased Al Rajhi Bank’s net profit by 24%. Saudi’s second-largest lender’s results are in line with analyst expectations.