Saudi Arabia raised USD 79.5 bn from 79 primary bond and sukuk issuances in 2024, a 51.2% y-o-y increase from USD 52.5 bn in 2023, according to Kuwait Financial Center’s (Markaz) fixed income research report (pdf). The Kingdom accounted for 53.7% of the GCC’s total primary issuances volume at USD 147.9 bn last year.

Topping the charts: The top 10 corporate bond and sukuk issuances by value came from Saudi entities, with Aramco’s USD 2 bn issuance being the largest single corporate offering in 2024. The largest sovereign issuance of the year was Saudi Arabia’s USD 12.6 bn issuance. The Kingdom also led GCC sukuk issuances with USD 49.7 bn in total volume, a 72% share, while also leading conventional issuances with USD 29.8 bn (37.7%).

ALSO- SAR-denominated issuances raised a total of USD 33.9 bn across 21 GCC issuances — surpassed only by USD-denominated issuances which made up 66.9% of the GCC total, raising USD 99.7 bn from 190 issuances.

THE REGIONAL PICTURE-

The UAE was the second top issuer in 2024, with 109 issuances totaling USD 38.5 bn, up 28.1% y-o-y and accounting for 26% of the market. Qatar came in third, raising USD 15.8 bn from 74 debt instruments, representing 10.7% of the total issuance volume.

MEANWHILE- Kuwait logged in the highest y-o-y growth rate with 356%, followed by Qatar (236%) and Oman (84%). The Kingdom’s 51.2% put it in fourth place.

Corporate issuances still on the top: Sovereign issuances grew to account for 46.1% of total issuances, up from 42.5% in 2023. However, corporate issuances remained dominant, accounting for 53.9% of total issuances and rising 45.5% y-o-y to USD 79.7 bn. Government-related corporate entities raised USD 17.4 bn, up 21.7% y-o-y, Markaz reported.

By sector: Both the government and financial sector issuances saw growth in size and number last year. Government issuances topped the charts at USD 68.2 bn raised across 46 issuances, while the financial sector raked in USD 51.3 bn across 203 issuances. The energy sector followed, raising USD 20.3 bn across 28 issuances.

By tenor: Short-term issuances (under five years) nearly doubled, representing 36.5% of total issuances at USD 54 bn across 215 issuances. Mid-term issuances (5-10 years) followed at 34.7% of total issuances, raising USD 51.3 bn across 43 issuances, while long-term issuances (10–30 years) raked in USD 32.8 bn across 20 issuances. Perpetual issuances also increased to USD 7.8 bn across 17 issuances. A total of USD 93.3 bn in bonds will mature between 2029 and 2034, said the report.

Issuances of USD 1 bn or more dominated the GCC primary market in 2024, accounting for 46.9% of the total issuance volume and raising USD 69.3 bn across 43 issuances in 2024. Issuances between USD 500 mn and USD 1 bn followed, totaling USD 50.5 bn across 59 issuances. Meanwhile, 129 issuances under USD 100 mn raised a combined USD 7.2 bn.

Tags: