Emirates NBD in talks to roll over $1.7bn loan

Emirates NBD (ENBD), Dubai’s largest lender, is discussing with several international banks a roll-over of a $1.7bn syndicated loan it signed in 2016, sources familiar with the matter said.

A spokesman for the bank confirmed the information and said: “this borrowing is from a set of relationship banks and has been rolled over twice before, though the amounts and individual bank participation vary.”

The 2016 loan, due in June 2019, saw the participation of 19 banks and offered a margin of 145 basis points over the London interbank offered rate (Libor), Thomson Reuters data show.

The bank is now aiming to renew that loan with better rates, said a source close to the matter.

Emirates NBD posted a 30 per cent rise in second-quarter net profit this month, boosted by a climb in net interest income and a drop in provisions to cover bad loans.

The bank made a net profit of Dhs2.63bn ($716.1m) in the three months to June 30, it said in a statement, compared with Dhs2.02bn in the corresponding period of 2017.