National Bank of Kuwait’s (NBK) board of directors has agreed to increase the bank’s capital through a 6.5 per cent rights issue.

The bank will issue 343.96 million shares at 400 fils per share. The issuance price includes an issuance premium of 300 fils per share on top of the par value of 100 fils per share.

Following the capital increase, NBK’s issued and paid-in capital will reach KD563.57 million ($1.862 billion) distributed over 5,635.66 million shares.

The capital increase will take place following final approvals of all regulatory authorities. The rights issue will be offered to the shareholders registered in the bank’s records one day prior to the date of calling the capital increase.

Earlier, NBK received all necessary approvals from regulatory authorities as well as its general assembly to increase the bank’s authorised capital to KD600 million.

This step is in line with the bank’s plans to maintain healthy capitalisation ratios following the implementation of Basel 3 and the regulations of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) in this regards. Also, this increase will allow the bank to continue capturing growth opportunities, especially in Kuwait as the government’s capital spending plan remains intact and as NBK continues to be the market leader in the project finance segment.

It is worth mentioning that in 2015, NBK issued $700 million in additional Tier 1 securities and KD125 million in Tier 2 subordinated bonds. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 16.8% as of end-December 2015, comfortably above regulatory requirements.

NBK continues to enjoy collectively the highest ratings among all banks in the Middle East from the three international rating agencies Moody’s, Fitch Ratings and Standard and Poor’s, the statement said. - TradeArabia News Service