Bahrain bags $2.2bn book for sukuk but pulls conventionals

The Kingdom of Bahrain was set to print a $1bn 7.5 year sukuk on Wednesday evening from a book of $2.2bn, with leads having managed to crunch the coupon to 6.875%. Rivals had called the guidance for the note “a new record” high for a new issue premium, but leads said the illiquidity of the sukuk curve rendered the concept of new issue premium almost meaningless.