Saudi National Bank posted first-quarter net income of $909 million in its maiden earnings season, marking Saudi Arabia's entry into the fray among the Gulf Cooperation Council's so-called national champion banks.

Saudi National Bank, or SNB, was established through a merger between National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group that created an entity with greater scale and a larger foothold in the corporate banking segment.

There have been numerous bank deals in the GCC since 2014, giving rise to large, predominately government-owned lenders such as SNB and First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC. First Abu Dhabi Bank, or FAB, the United Arab Emirates' largest lender by assets, was formed in 2017 when First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi were combined amid a wave of M&A in the Gulf Cooperation Council. FAB is the UAE's answer to the Middle East's biggest bank by assets, Qatar National Bank QPSC, or QNB.

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QNB's first-quarter net income exceeded SNB's by about $1 million but by total assets the Qatari lender dwarfs its Saudi peer, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. QNB has total assets of $286 billion versus FAB's $256 billion and SNB's $160 billion. With net loans of $198 billion, QNB's loan book is about twice as large as both FAB and SNB's.

Sovereign wealth funds are the primary shareholders in both QNB and SNB. The Qatar Investment Authority is QNB's majority owner, with a 50% stake, while the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia holds about 37% of SNB's outstanding shares. FAB's primary shareholder is the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, with a 37% holding.