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The Saudi National Bank was among the biggest advancers in S&P Global Market Intelligence's latest ranking of the 30 largest banks in the Middle East and Africa by assets, while South African lenders fell down the list.
The Saudi Arabia-based bank — created through the merger of National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group, which closed in 2021 — became one the five largest banks in the region, climbing four notches to third. It had $243.49 billion of assets as of the end of 2021, according to Market Intelligence data.
Saudi peer Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp. placed ninth, down from eighth a year ago, with assets of $166.12 billion, while Riyad Bank stayed in 19th with $86.76 billion. The Saudi British Bank and Banque Saudi Fransi both rose one place to 22nd and 26th, respectively, while Arab National Bank is a newcomer to the list in the 28th spot.
South Africans fall
All three South African banks in the list slipped two to three places. Standard Bank Group Ltd. fell from the top five to eighth with assets of $170.79 billion, while FirstRand Ltd. ranked 11th with $124.82 billion.
Absa Group Ltd. and Nedbank Group Ltd. took the 17th and 20th spots, respectively, with assets of $102.81 billion and $76.51 billion.
M&A activity in sub-Saharan Africa has been on the decline since 2019, based on Market Intelligence data compiled as of Dec. 13, 2021. While South Africa remains the most active country for deal-making in the region, total transactions fell to 419 from 461 for the whole of 2020.
QNB, FAB stay at the top
Qatar National Bank QPSC kept its title of the largest bank in the region with assets of $304.49 billion as of March 31, 2022. It also featured again in Market Intelligence's annual global ranking, making it the lone Middle Eastern bank in the list.
The only other Qatari bank in the regional list, Qatar Islamic Bank QPSC, placed 27th with assets of $52.88 billion.
First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC retained its position as the second-largest bank in the region with assets of $272.35 billion. The United Arab Emirates' largest bank in May 2021 completed its acquisition of Lebanon-based Bank Audi SAL's Egyptian unit.
Rounding out the top five were Israeli lenders Bank Hapoalim BM and Bank Leumi Le-Israel BM in fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
With Arab National Bank joining the list, Saudi Arabia now has the highest number of banks with six, followed by Israel with five and the UAE and South Africa with four each.
In terms of asset size, Israeli banks topped the list with combined assets of $700.01 billion, followed by Saudi Arabia with $677.69 billion and the UAE with $655.36 billion.