Bank of Sharjah has announced that it has signed a $135m club term loan facility which will be used for general corporate purposes.
The deal was struck with four mandated lead arrangers – Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Intesa SanPaolo and Wells Fargo Bank, the bank said in a statement.
The two-year facility will be used by the bank for its general corporate purposes, specifically for US dollar denominated transactions, the statement added.
The banks said the facility carries a margin of 1.5 percent per annum, similar to the pricing applied to the one year term loan raised by the bank last year and fully repaid in July 2011.
Varouj Nerguizian, executive director and general manager, added: “The political unrest which erupted in the MENA region during the first quarter of 2011 has negatively impacted the regional financial markets.
“The necessity of continually assessing risk and monitoring exposure, coupled with new risk classification measures introduced by the UAE Central Bank, if effectively implemented, might prove challenging to the banking industry in 2011, considering the subdued economic environment.
“Bank of Sharjah, with its corporate and investment profile, will further continue strengthening its balance sheet structures and ratios. The Bank, although highly liquid, has arranged the denominated loan to mitigate its US dollar funding requirements.”
Bank of Sharjah said in April that its net profit for the first quarter of 2011 was nearly 40 percent lower than the same period last year.
It posted net profits of AED81m ($22m) compared to AED134m, blaming increased impairment provisions and the decline in regional stock markets for the decrease.
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