Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB), which will conclude in London today a series of investor meetings ahead of an Islamic dollar bond sale, is targeting double-digit loan growth this year, a bank’s executive said.
The lender is looking to raise up to $500 million with its planned debt sale, which will boost its Tier 1 core capital and total capital ratios, said Ahmed Saad, deputy chief executive.
“At present, the SIB’s core capital … is not only strong but is way above the Central Bank of the UAE’s requirements. We are looking to strengthen our capital for future growth opportunities.”
SIB had total assets of 44.7 billion dirhams ($12.2bn) as of the end of last year. Its financing facilities rose to over 24.1bn dirhams compared to 21.7bn dirhams in 2017, an increase of 11 per cent.
Citi, HSBC, and Standard Chartered have been appointed as coordinators of SIB’s planned debt issue, and are joint lead managers and bookrunners together with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Bank ABC, Deutsche Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, KFH Capital.