First Bank ranks the 100 most profitable Arab banks in H1 2026

Gulf banks dominated First Bank’s ranking of the 100 most profitable Arab banks in the first half of 2026, highlighting the weight of Gulf banking institutions in the Arab banking profitability landscape.

Among the top 10, Al Rajhi Bank topped the ranking after recording a net profit of approximately USD 3.67bn in the first half of 2026.

Emirates NBD ranked second, with a net profit of USD 3.50bn in the first six months of 2026.

Saudi National Bank (SNB) came third, recording net profit of USD 3.47bn during the first six months of 2026.

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) ranked fourth, with net profit of USD 2.93bn during the period under review.

QNB Group took fifth place after recording net profit of USD 2.43bn in the first half of the year. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) ranked sixth, with a net profit of USD 1.83bn in the first half of 2026.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) secured seventh place, with a net profit of approximately USD 1.41bn in H1 2026, while Riyad Bank ranked eighth, recording a net profit of USD 1.40bn over the same period.

Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB) took ninth place after posting net profit of approximately USD 1.18bn in the first half of 2026.

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) completed the top 10, with net profit of approximately USD 1.13bn in the first six months of the year.

Saudi Arabia had the largest representation in the top 10, with four banks, Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi National Bank, Riyad Bank, and SAB, recording a combined net profit of approximately USD 9.72bn.

The UAE followed with three banks, Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, with a combined net profit of approximately USD 8.26bn.

The top 10 also included two Kuwaiti banks, Kuwait Finance House and National Bank of Kuwait, with combined net profit of approximately USD 2.54bn, alongside one Qatari bank, QNB Group, which recorded net profit of approximately USD 2.43bn in the first half of 2026.

The combined net profit of the top 10 reached approximately USD 22.95bn during the period under review, accounting for around 57 per cent of the profits generated by the 100 banks included in the ranking. This points to a high degree of profit concentration among a relatively limited group of major banking institutions.

The ranking is based on banks’ reported net profit for the first half of 2026, converted into US dollars to provide a consistent basis for comparison across banking institutions.

It includes parent banking groups across Arab countries and excludes their overseas branches, while banks for which official data were unavailable were omitted to ensure the accuracy of the results and the reliability of the methodology.