QIIB plans to hold roadshows in Asia and Europe next month to explore the market for its proposed sukuk, chief executive officer Dr Abdulbasit Ahmad al-Shaibei has said.
“Neither the size nor the tenor of the sukuk have been decided as yet, although we are looking up to $500mn with a maturity of three to five years,” al-Shaibei told Gulf Times yesterday.
He said QIIB shareholders approved the issuance of the senior unsecured sukuk at their AGM last night.
“Next month, we will probably go and test the market appetite for the sukuk. The market is still very volatile. So, we have not decided either on the target size or the tenor. Also, we have not decided whether to go public. We have lots of inquiries from private institutional investors. It could be even a private placement,” al-Shaibei noted.
He said QIIB has been sitting with advisers to decide on the size and tenor of the sukuk.
“They (advisers) have been telling us to wait until we see a clear direction from the Fed (US Federal Reserve). So, we will now go out and explore the market, al-Shaibei said and indicated that the QIIB team planned to visit Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong among other places as part of the roadshow.
Asked why the market was being explored now, al-Shaibei said, “The projections are that the interest rates may go up higher in the coming period.”
On the 2018 prospects, the QIIB chief executive officer said the expenditure committed on infrastructure projects would have a “positive impact” on the banks’ balance sheet. “I am very optimistic about this year,” al-Shaibei said.
He said bad debts were not a major concern for Qatari banks as their non-performing loans (NPLs) were within the “acceptable level”.
In terms of local expansion, al-Shaibei said QIIB planned to open more branches in popular malls across the country.
“Within a few months, we will be opening a new branch at The Mall in Al Hilal. We have already opened branches at The Mall of Qatar, Doha Festival City and the Ezdan Mall. In malls, we will be able to provide extended business hours to our customers. Also, from customers’ point of view they have the ease of banking,’ al-Shaibei said.
The AGM held at the Ezdan Tower also approved the QIIB board of directors’ proposal to pay 40% cash dividend to shareholders. This translates into QR4 per share. Page 16
Dr al-Shaibei: Very optimistic about 2018.
