Profitability of Saudi Commercial Banks: A Comparative Evaluation between Domestic and Foreign Banks using Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Management Quality, Earning Ability and Liquidity Parameters

Abdulazeez Y. H. Saif-Alyousf, Asish Saha and Rohani Md-Rus
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Abdulazeez Y. H. Saif-Alyousf: School of Economics, Finance and Banking, College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok 06010, Kedah, Malaysia,
Asish Saha: Flame School of Business, Flame University, Pune, Maharashtra, India,
Rohani Md-Rus: School of Economics, Finance and Banking, College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok 06010, Kedah, Malaysia.

International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 2017, vol. 7, issue 2, 477-484

Abstract: Recent banking reforms in Saudi Arabia fostered the entry of foreign banks to increase competition and improve the financial stability of the Saudi banking sector. There is, however, no comprehensive econometric study which has analyzed the profitability of domestic and foreign banks on a standalone and comparative basis. Present paper fills in this gap and assesses the profitability of Saudi banks using the parameters of the Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Management Quality, Earning Ability and Liquidity framework over the period 2000-2014 using pooled ordinary least square and fixed effect model. Our results indicate that domestic banks are more profitable than foreign banks. We also find that both foreign and domestic banks with higher capital are more profitable. Banks with a higher non-performing loan are less profitable: Foreign banks carry more credit risk in their portfolio. In contrast to domestic banks, operating expenses to total income for foreign banks is significant but negatively related to profitability, indicating that cost management inefficiency adversely affect the profitability of this group. Our results also indicate that banks with larger size are less profitable. We also find that steep rise in lending activities lead to increase in the profitability of domestic banks but has adversely affected the profitability of foreign banks in the country. The findings of the study have many policy implications.

Keywords: Profitability, Foreign Banks, Domestic Banks, Capital Adequacy; Asset Quality; Management Quality; Earning Ability; Liquidity Model, Saudi Arabia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 E40 G01 G20 G21 G24 L25 O16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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