Qatar’s QNB Issues $1bn Bond

Qatar National Bank (QNB) Group announced that it has successfully issued a $1 billion bond under its Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) Program in the international capital markets.

The tranche matures in February 2018 and has a coupon rate of 2.125 per cent. “This rate is the lowest in the history for bonds issued by financial institutions in the region,” QNB said in a statement.

The issue attracted strong interest from investors around the world and was several times oversubscribed, the lender said.

Proceeds will be utilised for general banking purposes, it added.

Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International, QNB Capital and Standard Chartered Bank were the joint lead managers who arranged and offered the issue.

QNB, which earlier issued a $1 billion five-year bond in February this year, recently announced that its third net profit increased by 10.5 per cent to QAR2.1 billion.

The lender, the largest in the GCC, has been expanding rapidly in the past few years and currently operates in 24 countries around the world.