Majority ownership by the Saudi government Leading commercial position and entrenched customer franchise Strong financial profile Solid capitalization Limited geographic diversification Still narrow business diversification Risks of sector concentration in the loan book The ratings on The National Commercial Bank (NCB) reflect the bank's majority ownership by the Saudi government, leading commercial position, strong profitability, and robust asset quality. Capitalization, one of the bank's main weaknesses in the past, is back to high levels. Concentration risks stemming from limited geographic and business diversification offset these factors, however. The ratings on the bank include a two-notch uplift to reflect the opinion of Standard&Poor's Ratings Services that the government would likely provide support in case of need, given NCB's shareholding
