PARIS (Standard & Poor's CreditWire) Jan. 25, 2000--Standard & Poor's today assigned a first rating to Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp. (Al Rajhi), Saudi Arabia's fourth-largest bank. The triple-'B'-pi (public information) counterparty credit rating reflects the bank's healthy customer franchise and strong financial profile, counterbalanced by a higher-than-average risk profile. With total assets of Saudi riyal (SR) 43 billion (US$11.5 billion, at SR3.745 to US$1) at Sept. 30, 1999, Al Rajhi is the fourth-largest of the 10 banks in the kingdom in terms of balance-sheet size. Al Rajhi is also the only Islamic bank in Saudi Arabia, although other Saudi banks offer Islamic banking products and services. As an Islamic bank, Al Rajhi conducts all of its business in
