Doha Bank’s $500m bond issue oversubscribed

Doha Bank, a leading private commercial bank in the GCC, has announced that its $500million senior bond issue was oversubscribed by nearly eight times. Sheikh Fahad Bin Mohammed Bin Jabor Al-Thani, the Chairman of Doha Bank, said: “We have successfully completed the Senior bond issue of $500 million under Doha Bank’s Euro Medium Term Note Programme (EMTN) of $2 billion through arrangers Morgan Stanley and J P Morgan.” He added: “The Bond is listed on London Stock Exchange. The proceeds will be used for general funding purposes required to support the bank’s growth plans.” Sheikh Abdul Rehman Bin Mohammad Bin Jabor Al-Thani, Managing Director of Doha Bank said: “The issue generated an overwhelming response from investors in Asia, the Middle East and Europe resulting in oversubscription of the bond by nearly 8 times. It shows the exceptionally high profile of Qatar and Doha Bank in the global market space.” R Seetharaman, CEO of Doha Bank Group, said “The Senior 5-year bond carries a coupon of 3.5 per cent and was issued at a spread of 262.5 basis points over Mid Swaps. This landmark deal is a follow up issue from Doha Bank’s previous debut subordinated bond issue of $340 million in 2006.” He added: “Doha Bank’s successful bond issue follows perfectly executed road shows in major financial centers in Asia, the Middle East and Europe including Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, London, Zurich and Geneva. Leading investors comprising of banks, investment funds and other financial institutions invested in Doha Bank’s bond. We received over 250 orders from institutions globally which speaks volumes on the faith of global investors in the bank’s strong performance in recent years, its strategy, franchise and leading market position along with the impressive economic growth in Qatar”. Doha Bank is the third largest conventional Bank in Qatar.  Total assets of the bank as of December 31, 2011, were QR 52.4 billion and total shareholders’ equity for the same period was QR 7.1 billion with a net profit of QR 1.24 billion.