Saudi Arabia-based National Commercial Bank (NCB) is planning to raise additional funds through the issuance of dollar-denominated sukuk, media reports said. In a stock exchange filing, NCB said that the number and value of any sukuk to be offered will be determined based on market conditions.
NCB said in bourse filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), “The purpose of the potential offer is to enhance the bank’s tier 1 capital as well as for general corporate purposes.”
It is reported that NCB has hired Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Emirates NBD Capital, Goldman Sachs International, JP Morgan Securities, Standard Chartered Bank, MUFG Securities and NCB Capital Company as joint lead managers and bookrunners for the potential tier 1 offering. The potential offer will be subject to approvals from the relevant regulatory authorities and will be made in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations.
According to an S&P Global Ratings report released earlier this month, total sukuk issuance is set to hit between $140 billion and $155 billion this year. This is attributed to a recovery in issuance in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
In its report, S&P Global said, “We expect GDP growth in the core Islamic finance countries–the GCC countries, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Turkey to recover from a sharp recession in 2020. We also assume that the price of oil will stabilise at about $50 per barrel in 2021. Together, these factors underpin a stronger performance by the global sukuk market in 2021 than in 2020.”