SNB’s bond issuance gets orders of over $4bn

The order book of Saudi National Bank’s (SNB) $1.25 billion bond sale swelled to more than $4 billion following high demand from local and global investors.

The Saudi-listed lender’s Tier 2 capital notes have a tenor of 10 years and a spread of 200 basis points over US Treasuries, Bloomberg reported, quoting an unnamed source.  

The bond will be the largest issued by SNB, the Gulf’s second-biggest bank by market capitalisation, the report said.

Interest remained strong despite an escalation of geopolitical tensions in the region as a result of air strikes between Israel and Iran.

In a statement published on the Saudi bourse, the bank said the size of the offering will depend on market conditions and will be open to both domestic and international bonds.

The bank mandated Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, DBS Bank, Emirates NBD Bank, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC Bank, JP Morgan Securities, Mashreqbank, Mizuho International, SNB Capital, SMBC Bank International and Standard Chartered Bank as joint lead managers.

The funds will used in part to strengthen SNB’s capital base, Bloomberg said.

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This month SNB completed a SAR1.73 billion ($460 million) additional Tier 1 sukuk.

The bank’s net profit rose 19 percent year on year to SAR6 billion in Q1 2025.

“Banks have diversified their liquidity and funding mix,” Aqib Elahi Mehboob, head of sell-side research at BSF Capital in Riyadh, told AGBI in March.

“The overall metrics of the Saudi banking sector show it’s very sound on a global level,” he said.