Kuwait’s Warba Bank lists $250m sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai

The listing is the lender’s third on the exchange

Warba Bank's chief executive Shaheen al Ghanem on Tuesday rang the bell to celebrate the listing of the lender's $250 million sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai. WAM

Kuwait’s Warba Bank has listed its $250 million sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai, which was 4.4 times oversubscribed by investors.

The new listing is the lender's third on the exchange following two sukuk listings valued at $250m and $500m in 2017 and 2019 respectively, Nasdaq Dubai said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Our latest sukuk issuance witnessed significant success in attracting regional and international investors, and is a clear testament of their confidence in Warba Bank’s expansion strategy in various business activities such as investment, treasury, corporate and retail banking,” said Shaheen Al Ghanem, chief executive of Warba Bank.

Listed on Kuwait bourse, Warba is an Islamic bank with 14 branches in Kuwait. It reported 3.1m Kuwaiti dinars ($10.24m) in profit during the third quarter. Total assets reached 3.58 billion dinars at the end of September.

The new listing on Nasdaq Dubai brings the total outstanding value of the bank’s sukuk on the exchange to $898m and “further strengthens ties between the capital markets of Kuwait and the UAE”, Mr Al Ghanem said.

Global sukuk issuances in 2021 are likely to remain below the record levels achieved in 2020, as higher oil prices and continued economic recovery reduce financing needs of sovereigns in the Gulf region, according to a report from Moody’s Investors Service in September.

Gross short and long-term sukuk issuances in 2021 are expected to reach between $190bn and $200bn this year, well below the $205bn recorded in 2020.

“The constant listings from leading regional and international financial institutions underscore their confidence in Nasdaq Dubai’s regulatory framework and its support infrastructure,” said Hamed Ali, chief executive of Nasdaq Dubai and Dubai Financial Market.

Nasdaq Dubai is committed to further expanding its services "in line with the requirements of issuers and investors as well as to drive Dubai’s leading status as one of the largest global sukuk listing centres to new heights”, he added.