Saudi’s largest lender National Commercial Bank (NCB) sold a dollar perpetual non-call 6Y (perpNC6) tier 1 sukuk on Wednesday. NCB raised $1.25bn via the perpNC6 sukuk at a yield of 3.5%, the lowest coupon ever for a perpetual issuance from the Gulf region. The sukuk received orders of over $4.5bn, 3.6x issue size, which led the bank to tighten final pricing by an enormous 62.5bp from initial guidance of 4.125% area. While the sukuk is unrated, NCB is rated A1/BBB+/A-. The sukuk, if not called on July 26, 2026 or any date thereafter till the first reset date of Jan 26, 2027, will see its coupon reset to the interpolated 6Y Treasury yield + 288.9bp on the first reset date and every six years thereafter. Despite offering the lowest coupon ever for a Gulf perp, NCB’s new perp sukuk offer a yield pick-up of 42bp over regional peer First Abu Dhabi Bank’s (AA-) 4.5% perp callable in April 2026 that are currently yielding 3.08% on the secondary market. NCB is majority owned directly and indirectly by the Saudi government.
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