Dubai's biggest bank inks $750m financing deal for Emirates
‘Landmark’ transaction signed as Dubai airline continues to reopen global network after impact of coronavirus pandemic
Emirates NBD has successfully signed a $750 million five-year dual tranche financing facility with Emirates Airline.
Dubai’s biggest bank said the landmark transaction remains competitively priced and marks a first for Emirates as a sales-receivable backed financing structure, aimed to diversify the airline’s liquidity pool.
Emirates NBD acted as bookrunner, mandated lead arranger and global agent for the transaction.
Ahmed Al Qassim, senior executive vice president, group head of corporate & institutional banking for Emirates NBD said: “This first-of-its-kind transaction demonstrates Emirates NBD Group’s commitment towards supporting Emirates, the largest airline in the region.
“We are continuously exploring new and innovative financing solutions to support our valued clients and their long-term objectives. As Dubai gears up to be the most visited city by 2025, we look forward to playing our part in achieving this goal through more of such landmark transactions with Emirates Airline.”
The financing deal comes as Emirates continues to reopen its global network following the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Middle East carriers, including Emirates, are expected to see a very limited improvement in their financial performance from a $6.8 billion loss in 2021 to a $4.6 billion loss in 2022 as the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Monday.
It said that the region’s carrier, without large domestic markets, rely significantly on connecting traffic, especially to Asia-Pacific which has been slow to re-open to international traffic.
In June, the Emirates Group posted a loss of AED22.1 billion ($6 billion) for the financial year ending March 31, compared with an AED1.7 billion profit for last year. Revenues for the financial year stood at $9.7 billion, a 66 percent drop from the same period last year.
The airline currently flies to more than 120 cities, representing 90 percent of its pre-pandemic network, and plans to restore 70 percent of its capacity by the end of the year.
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