DUBAI: National Commercial Bank (NCB), Saudi Arabia’s largest lender, has completed a SR5bn ($1.3bn) Islamic bond issue, sources said yesterday.
The transaction is the largest of its kind in the kingdom and continues the trend of Saudi banks issuing debt instruments to boost capital reserves after a sustained period of high lending growth. A spokesman for NCB couldn’t be reached for comment.
The bank had been aiming to raise SR4bn but the size of the sukuk was increased because of strong demand from investors, one of the sources said. NCB’s chairman, Mansour al-Maiman, was quoted in October as saying the bank was planning to issue a sukuk worth up to SR4bn.
NCB’s sukuk will enhance its Tier 2, or supplementary, capital and will have a 10-year lifespan with an option of the bank redeeming the instrument after five years. Reuters
