Sharjah Islamic Bank repays $400m sukuk

The funds raised under the sukuk were used for general corporate purposes and business expansion of Sharjah Islamic Bank.

Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) has successfully repaid a $400 million sukuk. The sukuk had been raised in May 2011 under challenging market circumstances. The funds raised under the sukuk were used for general corporate purposes and business expansion of SIB.

Mohamed Abdulla, CEO of SIB, thanked the investors of the sukuk for their trust in SIB as a strong regional credit, holding investment grade ratings of A3 by Moody's and BBB+ by S&P and Fitch Ratings.

He said: "SIB believes the capital markets to be an opportunity of growth for Islamic banks. We, at SIB, would look to tap the markets at appropriate times. Sukuk allows us to diversify our funding sources and engage with investors for various opportunities."

Ahmed Saad, deputy CEO of SIB, said: "The bank's liquidity remains strong whereas asset quality measured through coverage ratio and non-performing loans are in line with peers. SIB chose to repay the sukuk through its internal sources, evidencing our excellent liquidity position, and would look to engage with capital market investors, under the $3 billion sukuk programme in the future. SIB has been tapping sukuk markets since 2006, being one of the earliest sukuk issuers in the world."

SIB currently has two sukuks of $500 million outstanding which are set to mature in 2018 and 2020 respectively.

The Sharjah Islamic Bank was established in 1975 and is a public listed company on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. The bank is regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE.

Headquartered out of Sharjah, and operating with 31 branches throughout the UAE, the bank offers its clients commercial banking services, including deposits, loans and credit cards; asset management services; and investment banking services.

- business@khaleejtimes.com