The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) plans to issue a dollar-denominated bond this year to tap international markets for up to USD 1 billion, the chairman told Zawya.
"We will decide on a suitable time to offer the dollar bond after consulting with international institutions about the issuance and preparing internal studies," Hisham Okasha said.
"There has not been a final decision yet regarding the value of the offering, but it will range between USD 600 million and USD 1 billion," he said.
The chairman said the aim of the issuance was to maintain competitiveness in the international market, diversify foreign currency sources and maintain the balance in maturity terms for short-term USD deposits by offering a five-year USD bond.
NBE is the first Egyptian bank to issue bonds traded on international markets. In 2010, NBE issued five-year bonds worth USD 600 million through Nile Finance Limited. Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley managed the sale. The bonds, priced to yield about 5.25%, were listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange
NBE recorded an 8.7% growth in pre-tax profits to EGP 4 billion (USD 560 million) in the first half of fiscal year 2013/2014, according to official data. Deposits increased 15% to EGP 360.2 billion in the first half of the year from a year earlier.
© Zawya 2014
