DOHA: Qatar National Bank (QNB) is set to price a five-year bond of benchmark size after announcing initial price thoughts in the area of 135 basis points over midswaps.
Gulf banks have been tapping the bond market this year to help to manage squeezed liquidity in the banking sector as lower oil prices have kept governments from placing large oil receipts on deposit. In many cases, oil revenue has been withdrawn to help to bridge budgetary shortfalls, Reuters reported.
QNB’s proposed dollar-denominated deal is being arranged by Barclays, HSBC, Mizuho, MUFG Securities and Standard Chartered, as well as QNB’s own investment banking unit.
The arranger list was confirmed in a subsequent stock market filing from QNB, which added that the transaction will be issued under the bank’s Euro Medium Term Notes programme. Benchmark size is usually understood to mean upwards of $500m. Both Kuwait’s Burgan Bank and Sharjah Islamic Bank have announced plans to issue a bond and sukuk respectively in the coming days and Emirates Islamic Bank completed a $250m sukuk trade on Tuesday.
The Peninsula
