A trio of Gulf banks hit the US dollar AT1 sukuk market last week, taking advantage of the rebound in risk appetite following an easing in tensions in the US-China trade war.

Two of the issuers were new to the AT1 market, Saudi Awwal Bank and Bank Albilad, while the other was a relatively more familiar name to investors, Kuwait's Warba Bank.

The three deals took the number of GCC banks to issue AT1 in the US market this year to five. Last week Banque Saudi Fransi revived the sector with a US$650m perpetual non-call six conventional note. That was the first AT1 from the region since Al Rajhi Bank issued a US$1.5bn perpetual non-call six AT1 sustainable sukuk at 6.25% in January.

The bid for sukuk deals remain undimmed despite a slew of issuance in general, with the AT1 deals offering yield even if they are tight compared with where European banks' AT1s or US financial institutions' preferred notes trade. Private banks in the GCC region in particular show heavy interest in the deals.

Islamic financial institution Warba Bank kicked things off with a US$250m no-grow perpetual non-call 5.5 AT1 sukuk at 6.25% on Tuesday. That was 25bp inside the starting point of the 6.5% area.

The bank didn't need more than that amount from a capital perspective, said a lead banker. He said the best pricing reference was the BSF deal, which landed at 6.375% on May 7, but is now in the mid-6s as US dollar rates have crept back up again. 

The sukuk aspect meant Warba (Baa2 positive/A stable; Moody's/Fitch) was able to get tighter pricing than where BSF had come.

The issuer is only a semi-regular in the dollar primary market and last issued in AT1 format in 2021. It issued a US$500m five-year green sukuk deal in senior format last July.

Warba is 24.899% owned by the State of Kuwait through the Kuwait Investment Authority and Public Institution for Social Security. The Reg S AT1 deal is unrated.

Emirates NBD Capital and Standard Chartered were global coordinators. They were also lead managers and bookrunners alongside Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan, Kamco Invest, Markaz and Warba Bank.

Next in the market was Saudi Awwal Bank (A1/A–; Moody's/Fitch) in which HSBC owns a minority stake. The bank is the creation of a merger completed in 2019 between Saudi Arab British Bank, which managed HSBC's assets in the country, and Alawwal Bank.

Books opened on Wednesday for a perpetual non-call 5.5-year green AT1 sukuk at the 6.875% area. Unlike the other two deals, the Awwal structure was not compliant with AAOIFI standards so its buyer base was limited as UAE banks were not allowed to participate.

Even so, orders reached over US$1.1bn, with almost 90 accounts involved. That enabled the leads to launch a US$650m deal at 6.5%. Again, the BSF trade was a marker for pricing, with the leads taking its secondary level as the best guide. 

"We are comfortable with the credit profile of Awwal bank given its ownership structure and relative market share. Pricing at 6.5% was fair in our opinion given the yield on Banque Saudi Fransi AT1," said Faisal Ali, senior portfolio manager at Azimut. "Despite increased supply in the AT1 segment, the Awwal AT1 should find support given that there are no outstanding sukuk from Awwal."

The sukuk were unrated.

Bank of America and HSBC were the global coordinators. They were also lead managers alongside Citigroup, JP Morgan, Kamco Investment Company, Mizuho International, Standard Chartered and Warba Bank.

Saudi Islamic institution Bank Albilad (A2/A–; Moody's/Fitch) then came with a similar US$650m perpetual non-call 5.5-year AT1 sukuk at 6.5%. Books opened at 6.75% area.

Although the bank, which specialises in retail banking, is less well known than some others from the kingdom, the deal still got a stronger bid than Awwal, a reflection of its compliance with AAOIFI standards.

Books finished at more than US$2.5bn. That enabled the leads to tighten and upsize from an expected US$500m.

Still, Ali said his firm prefers Awwal's credit profile over Albilad’s "given Albilad’s weaker ownership structure as well as smaller market share. Pricing at 6.5% is expensive in our view. However, the issue is AAOIFI-compliant and hence commands a premium".

Albilad Capital and HSBC were the global coordinators. They were also lead managers alongside Emirates NBD Capital and Goldman Sachs. The sukuk are unrated.

Bankers say that more AT1 deals from the region are still to come. "Not a lot more, but a bit more," said the banker. "The market isn't getting weary."

Valuations, though, are looking unattractive on a global level, especially for Saudi Arabian banks. "Saudi bank AT1 bonds offer lower yields compared to yields offered by European bank AT1 bonds. So relative value for Saudi AT1 bonds is not compelling," said Ali.

He said he has a "neutral view" on the Saudi banking sector as well as on the Saudi AT1 segment.

"Liquidity in the Saudi banking system is likely to get stretched due to elevated loan demand from government entities engaged on infrastructure spending. At the same time, decline in oil prices will put pressure on government revenues and thus necessitate more government borrowing. As a result, we are likely to see more debt issuance from Saudi Arabia, which will put pressure on existing spreads," he said.

There was one senior deal from a GCC bank, too, as First Abu Dhabi Bank (Aa3/AA–/AA–) raised US$750m through a five-year FRN in the Formosa market on Thursday. The issuance came at SOFR plus 97bp, 3bp inside guidance.

Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan) was the sole lead manager.

The week before Al Rajhi had printed a US$500m five-year fixed-rate sukuk offering in the Formosa market.

Source: IFR