Saudi SABB bank books $94 mln for Q3 loan losses

RIYADH, Oct 24 (Reuters) - SABB bank, HSBC's Saudi affiliate, booked 351.5 million riyal ($93.7 million) in provisions for loan losses during the third quarter, bourse data showed on Saturday.

SABB has reported a worse than expected 19.8 percent drop in third-quarter net profit, hit by an increase in provisions for bad loans.

The data also showed that Al-Jazira Bank made provisions for loan losses of 115.7 million riyals during the third quarter, the lender's highest in at least one year, while Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB) booked 60 million riyals for the same purpose, its the highest this year.

(Reporting by Souhail Karam; Editing by Inal Ersan) ($1=3.75 Saudi riyals) Keywords: SABB PROVISIONS/ ([e-mail], [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.