National Bank ofKuwait S.A.K.P. announced that its board agreed to increase the lender'scapital through a 6.5% rights issue, subject to regulatory approval.

The bank will issue 343,960,000 shares at 400 Kuwaiti fils pershare, including a premium of 300 fils per share.

National Bank of Kuwait's issued and paid-in capital will reachabout 563.6 million dinars, distributed over 5,635,660,000 shares, following thecapital hike. This capital increase will allow the bank to continue capturing growthopportunities, especially in Kuwait.

The capital hike is part of the lender's plans to comply withBasel III and the Central Bank of Kuwait's regulations.

National Bank of Kuwait noted that it previously all necessary regulatory and shareholderapprovals to increase the bank's authorized capital to 600 million dinars.

As of March 30, US$1 was equivalent to 0.3018 Kuwaiti dinar.