Emirates NBD 'names banks to plan Swiss franc bond issue'

Emirates NBD is planning to issue a Swiss franc-denominated bond, four sources said yesterday. The lender has appointed banks for the issue, one banking source familiar with the matter told Reuters. "The bank is looking at it [and] has appointed banks," source said, declining to name the mandated banks. Emirates NBD has just over Dh8 billion in debt maturing this year, including a $1.5-billion (Dh5.50 billion) loan due in October. Article continues below The bank reported a sharp fall in quarterly profit on Wednesday for a second consecutive quarter on provisioning for bad loans. Its Islamic subsidiary, Emirates Islamic Bank, reopened Gulf bond markets this year with a $500 million Islamic bond, or sukuk, in January, which carried a profit rate of 4.72 per cent. In 2007, Emirates NBD completed a 100-million Swiss franc (Dh399.20 million) three-year guaranteed floating rate bond which paid 7 basis points over three-month Swiss Libor, according to Thomson Reuters data. Under the terms of a guaranteed bond, the principal and interest is paid by someone other than the issuer. In the last two years, other Gulf banks have sought to take advantage of a favourable swap rate between the Swiss franc and US dollar, the currency most Gulf currencies are pegged to. Commercial Bank of Qatar, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and First Gulf Bank have all tapped Swiss liquidity since 2010.