Samba Financial Group reported an 8.33% year-over-year rise in its third-quarter net profit to 1.42 billion Saudi Arabian riyals from 1.31 billion riyals.

The Riyadh-based bank said the increase was driven by a higher net income from special commissions and investment, which rose year over year to 1.59 billion riyals from 1.45 billion riyals. Total operating expenses also fell 2.7% year over year due to lower credit cost and depreciation, among other factors.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the bank's net profit came in at 4.12 billion riyals, up 8.19% from the year-ago 3.81 billion riyals. Profit per share for the period increased on a yearly basis to 2.06 riyals from 1.9 riyals.

As of Oct. 17, US$1 was equivalent to 3.75 Saudi Arabian riyals.