NBK Prices The GCC’s Second Lowest Coupon Dollar AT1 at 3.625% 

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) raised $700mn via a Perpetual non-call 6Y (PerpNC6) AT1 bond at a yield of 3.625%, 37.5bp inside initial guidance of 4% area. The bonds have expected ratings of Baa3 vs. issuer ratings of A/A1/AA-. NBK Tier 1 is the issuer and NBK is the guarantor. This is the second lowest coupon ever on an AT1 from the GCC region, after Saudi lender NCB’s AT1 issuance, also a PerpNC6, late last month that pays a coupon of 3.5%. NBK’s new AT1s, if not called on the first call date in August 2026, will see its coupon reset to the 6Y US semi-annual swap rate plus a spread of 287.5bp. The bonds were priced in line with its older 4.5% Perp callable in November 2025 that is currently trading at 104.375 with a yield-to-call of 3.49%.