ReportAlert.info - The National Commercial Bank Publishes 2011 Sustainability and Business Excellence Report

(3BL Media) March 20, 2012 - The National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia (NCB), one of the Middle East's leading financial institutions, has released its 2011 Sustainability and Business Excellence Report. The report is available on the company's Web site and may be accessed here.

The report is NCB's fourth annual Sustainability report. GRI has qualified the report as Application level B. NCB is the first company in Saudi Arabia to comply with the GRI Guidelines and the first financial institution in the Middle East to publish a GRI qualified Sustainability report.   The report outlines NCB's Sustainability policy and framework which identifies the Bank’s key stakeholder groupings together with their priority issues. The report furthermore describes key challenges faced by the Bank and the strategy NCB has developed in response to stakeholders expectations. Broad themes of 2011 achievements include:   • Added 11 new retails branches & service centers across the Kingdom • Several major project finance deals supporting the development of strategic industries. Projects that NCB participates in normally comply with the environmental guidelines of the World Bank’s Equator Principles and/or the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu • QuickPay become a vital channel with 25 centers across the country, it extended financial inclusion to an under-served customer segment • New energy saving program reduced 919,405Kw in just 12 months across our network • New policy for business partners to raise sustainability capabilities internally & externally • Training programs to develop the skills of young Saudi job candidates • AlAhli Entrepreneurs Support Project expanded to include interest-free financing for graduates of AlAhli Small Business Program • The Bank improved its return on equity to 18.4% in 2011, up from 15.6% in 2010   The report includes an opening article by Chief Executive Officer, Abdulkareem Abu Alnasr that discusses the critical sustainability challenges call for collective actions.   To provide feedback on the report and NCB's approach to Sustainability or to order hard copies of the report in both Arabic and English, please email sustainability@alahli.com   Background to NCB The National Commercial Bank (NCB) is Saudi Arabia’s largest financial institution. For 60 years, people have looked to NCB for leadership, have welcomed its innovation & quality customer service, and considered it a trusted, ethical partner in their professional & personal lives. For further information please visit www.alahli.com