The Big Numbers Race: SAB, DIB race for a place among the Gulf’s top 10
The Gulf banking landscape has brought Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB) and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) into direct competition, combining substantial financial scale with distinct approaches to financing expansion and return generation.
While SAB maintains an advantage in the size of its key financial portfolios, the development of their financial indicators over the past three years points to relatively close growth rates.
According to June 2026 data, SAB ranked 10th among Gulf banks, while DIB ranked 11th.
Based on the two banks’ consolidated financial statements, SAB’s total assets reached USD 126.28bn at end-June 2026, compared with USD 115.22bn for DIB at the end of the same period.
In deposits, SAB’s customer deposits stood at USD 91.07bn at end-June 2026, compared with USD 89.03bn at DIB, reflecting a much narrower gap between the two banks’ deposit bases.
As for financing portfolios, SAB’s net loans reached USD 85.22bn at end-June 2026, compared with USD 76.51bn at DIB.
Despite SAB’s lead in absolute size, a dynamic comparison reveals relatively close growth rates between the two banks over the past three years, specifically from end-2023 to end-June 2026.
Asset growth: DIB edges ahead as gap widens
DIB recorded total asset growth of 34.6 per cent over the period, compared with 32.8 per cent for SAB, giving DIB a modest lead in the pace of asset growth over the past three years.
Even so, the gap between the two banks widened to USD 11.06bn at end-June 2026, from USD 9.52bn at end-2023. This indicates that the relatively close growth rates were not sufficient to narrow the existing difference in scale, with the absolute gap instead widening in SAB’s favour.
Deposits: DIB narrows the gap
In deposits, DIB recorded total growth of around 47.2 per cent over the past three years, compared with 41.7 per cent for SAB, giving DIB the stronger growth rate in its deposit base.
This performance helped narrow the gap between the two banks to USD 2.04bn at end-June 2026, from USD 3.78bn at end-2023, bringing them considerably closer in terms of deposit size than at the start of the comparison period.
Financing: gap widens in SAB’s favour
On the financing side, SAB recorded growth of around 48 per cent over the past three years, compared with 40.9 per cent for DIB.
With SAB posting the stronger financing growth rate, the gap between the two banks widened to USD 8.72bn at end-June 2026, from USD 3.27bn at end-2023, reflecting differing trajectories in the development of their financing businesses over the comparison period.
Profitability: SAB leads in profit and return on average assets
On profitability, SAB recorded net profit of around USD 1.14bn in the first half of 2025, with a Return on Average Assets (ROAA) of 1.90 per cent and a Return on Average Equity (ROAE) of 11.02 per cent over the same period.
By comparison, DIB recorded a net profit of USD 1.02bn in the first half of 2025, with a ROAA of 1.78 per cent and a ROAE of 13.96 per cent over the same period.
These indicators reveal differences in the profitability profiles of the two banks. SAB leads in net profit and ROAA, while DIB records a higher ROAE, highlighting differences in the relationship between asset scale, profitability, and their respective equity bases.
Capital base: clear advantage for SAB
In terms of capital base, SAB’s share capital stood at USD 5.47bn at end-June 2026, compared with USD 1.97bn for DIB at the end of the same period.
The difference highlights the substantially larger capital base at SAB compared with DIB, adding another dimension to the comparison between the two banks.
The comparison highlights a multidimensional contest between the two banks. Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB) retains the advantage in the scale of its key financial portfolios, net profit, and ROAA, while DIB has delivered stronger asset and deposit growth over the past three years and a higher ROAE. Their financing portfolios, meanwhile, have followed increasingly divergent growth paths.
The next phase of the competition will therefore hinge not simply on preserving current rankings, but on each bank’s ability to translate growth into sustained expansion and stronger profitability. Shifting balance-sheet gaps, efficiency metrics and returns are likely to play an increasingly important role in shaping the Gulf banking race.
