Saudi bank SABB  posted a surge in its fourth-quarter net profit to 397 million riyals ($106 million) on Sunday, beating analyst forecasts.

SABB, 40 percent owned by HSBC Holdings, made profit of 26 million riyals in the fourth quarter of the previous year, it said in a stock exchange statement.     

Analysts surveyed by Reuters forecast, on average, net profit of 365 million riyals.

The bank's operating income for the fourth quarter of 2010 declined by 5.9 percent to 1.1 billion riyals. The bank's loans portfolio declined by 2.9 percent to 74.2 billion riyals compared to 76.4 billion riyals in the same period a year earlier.  

Profits at most Saudi banks came under pressure in 2009 from provisions to counter exposure to some troubled Saudi firms and also from flat credit growth as lenders restricted loans during the global slowdown.

The bank did not say whether it took provisions during the fourth quarter.  - Reuters