https://arab.news/n4zv3
RIYADH: Tadawul-listed Banque Saudi Fransi has sold $700 million in five-year dollar-dominated bonds following the completion of the offering process on Thursday, a bourse filing revealed.
The offering for the first public dollar bonds out of the Gulf in almost a month commenced on Nov.16 and the settlement of the note's issuance will take place on Nov. 23.
BSF received more than $1.5 billion in orders for its bond before its pricing was set on Wednesday, a bank document showed. Its Initial price guidance was around 195 basis points over US Treasuries for the bond issue.
Following the conclusion of the issuance, the bank said a total of 3,500 bonds will be issued at the value of $200,000 each, based on the minimum denomination and total issue size.
The issuance will be made through an international and Saudi Arabian special-purpose vehicle offering to eligible investors, the bourse filing added.
The bonds which are set to be listed on the International Securities Market of the London Stock Exchange will offer an annual return of 5.5 percent.
According to the terms of redemption, the bonds can be redeemed before the maturity date in certain circumstances stated in Base Offering Circular in relation to the notes and medium-term note program.
Earlier this month, the bank appointed Citigroup Global Markets Limited, JP Morgan Securities, HSBC Bank, Merrill Lynch International, Standard Chartered Bank and Saudi Fransi Capital as joint lead managers.
BSF’s $4 billion guaranteed medium-term note program has been assigned a provisional senior unsecured foreign-currency rating of (P)A2 by Moody’s Investors Service.
The minimum term note program is a special-purpose vehicle established by BSF and the rating is aligned with BSF's A2 long-term deposit ratings, a statement showed.
Securities issued under the program will constitute direct, unconditional, unsubordinated, and unsecured obligations of BSF, according to Moody’s, and rank equally with all other unsecured and unsubordinated from time-to-time outstanding obligations of BSF.
Last month, the bank reported a 9 percent profit surge for the first nine months of 2022, driven by a boost in total operating income.
The bank’s profit peaked at SR2.7 billion ($719 million), compared to SR2.5 billion in the prior-year period, its bourse filing revealed.
The profit hike was mainly attributed to an 8 percent increase in operating income that reached SR2.8 billion, partially offset by a 9 percent boost in operating expenses, the bank said.
The bank also posted SR961 million in third-quarter profits, up 6 percent from the same quarter last year.