Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank (NCB), the country's biggest lender by assets, said it has registered a 27.3 per cent rise in net profit for 2011.

State-owned NCB made a net profit of SR6 billion ($1.6 billion) in 2011, compared with SR4.7 billion the previous year.

"The bank's strategy to diversify its revenue sources resulted in an increase in revenue from its core operations and a decrease in operating expenses," NCB's chairman Abdullah Bahamdan said in an emailed statement.

Operating costs decreased 12.5 per cent, the statement said, while banking fee income rose 5.8 per cent.

Foreign exchange income climbed 36 per cent and net income from special commissions increased 5.3 per cent to 8.5 billion riyals, it added.-Reuters