Emirates NBD celebrates $750 million bond listing

Shayne Nelson, Group CEO of Emirates NBD, on Wednesday rang the market-opening bell at Nasdaq Dubai to celebrate the listing of a $750 million bond.

The listing of this additional Tier 1 Capital bond reinforces Emirates NBD’s position as the largest financial services bond issuer on Nasdaq Dubai through seven listings with a total value of $5.1 billion. The $750 million perpetual bond pays a coupon of 4.25 per cent, the lowest pricing for a conventional Tier 1 bond from the UAE, and the second lowest from the Middle East.

The issuance was 2.3 times oversubscribed with a strong demand from the region. About 64 per cent of appetite came from Middle East, 12 per cent each from Asia and Europe, 10 per cent from UK and two per cent from elsewhere.

Investor confidence on the rise

Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, vice-chairman and managing director of Emirates NBD, said the successful issuance and listing of the second bond from Emirates NBD in 2021 underlines investor confidence in the fundamentals and prospects of the bank as one of the largest banking groups in the region, as well as the growth outlook for the UAE’s economy.

"The UAE’s vaccination drive and proactive response to Covid-19 enabled commerce to swiftly reopen and the economy remains well-positioned to expand in 2021. Emirates NBD continues to actively facilitate customers to take advantage of growth opportunities,” he said.

Dubai a world-class capital market

Essa Kazim, governor of DIFC and chairman of DFM, said Dubai has successfully created world-class capital market regulations and infrastructure that support the growth of the financial services sector in the UAE and beyond.

"Dubai’s exchanges are committed to strengthening the Emirate’s role as a centre for capital-raising and promoting regional and international investor flow. The listing of Emirates NBD’s bond issuance on Nasdaq Dubai, the region’s international exchange, is a clear testament on issuers’ confidence in our robust capital market environment and proficiencies to better serve the growing requirements of various corporations,” he said.

Record year for Nasdaq Dubai

Abdul Wahed Al Fahim, chairman of Nasdaq Dubai, said Nasdaq Dubai continues to enhance its listing infrastructure building upon the notable successes of the year 2020 that enabled us to accomplish a record year for new debt listings.

"We look forward to maintaining and strengthening our constructive framework for continuous collaboration with leading issuers and to host many significant listings in 2021 from prominent issuers in the UAE, the Middle East and globally, as economies’ recovery from the impact of Covid-19 accumulates further momentum,” he said.

Dubai is the largest listing venue in the Middle East for dollar-denominated debt listings, with a total value of $93.126 billion.

Successful business strategy

Shayne Nelson, Group CEO of Emirates NBD, said the success of "our latest bond issue reflects investor confidence" in the group’s sound business strategy and the economy of Dubai and the UAE.

"Nasdaq Dubai provides us with excellent links to investors in the region and globally, together with high public visibility,” he said.

Hamed Ali, CEO of Nasdaq Dubai and deputy CEO of DFM, said the new listing from Emirates NBD endorses the exchange’s prominent status as the most favored listing venue for debt issuances in the Middle East.

"We are pleased to see leading corporations actively tapping into the market for issuances, which clearly demonstrate their determination to reinforce their pivotal role in financing the economic development in the country and the wider region,” he said.

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com