Bank of Sharjah readies for new dollar bond sale

Reuters

Bank of Sharjah is preparing to issue potential five-year USD-denominated bonds, with investor meetings starting from August 30, a news report said.

The Abu Dhabi-listed lender has appointed 11 banks as joint lead managers and bookrunners, Reuters reported.

These include Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait (DIFC Branch), Bank ABC, Citi, Doha Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Kamco Invest, Mashreq, QNB Capital and Standard Chartered Bank.

The senior unsecured bonds will be part of the lender’s $2.5 billion Euro Medium-Term Note (EMTN) programme.

In addition, Bank of Sharjah plans to buy back $600 million of notes due on September 18 in cash.

In July, AGBI reported that Gulf countries are racing to complete ambitious “vision” agendas, pushing the total value of GCC bond and sukuk issuances since 2014 to more than $1 trillion.

Primary debt issuances of bonds and sukuk in the six GCC member states – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar – totalled $75.5 billion in the first six months of 2024, up 38 percent year on year, according to the latest figures from the Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz).

“We expect GCC issuance to sustain current momentum given the dynamics of Saudi Arabia’s funding requirements,” said Faisal Ali, senior portfolio manager of Dubai-based investment company Azimut.