First Gulf Bank plans $205m bonds

First Gulf Bank plans to raise 200 million Swiss francs ($205m) in a sale of five-year bonds that may be priced to yield about 164 basis points over the benchmark mid-swap rate, according to three people familiar with the deal.

Abu Dhabi’s third-largest lender in November delayed a planned bond sale because rates weren’t favorable. Borrowers from the Gulf Cooperation Council, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, sold $32.6bn of bonds last year, compared with $42.8bn in 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Issuers in the six-nation group have about $70bn of debt maturing this year, according to Standard Chartered Plc.

First Gulf Bank in October reported third-quarter profit of AED849m($231.2m), topping the median 789.5 million-dirham profit estimate of eight analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.