Press Release 24 September 2007

NBK Annual General Assembly approves a 20% Capital Increase

The National Bank of Kuwait's Annual General Assembly has approved a 20% capital increase at the conclusion of its meeting which was held at NBK's Head Office-MR floor on Sunday 23 September.

The meeting was kicked off with an address delivered by Deputy CEO Mr. Isam J. Al Sager who pointed out that based on NBK's forward-looking strategy, the Board of Directors has decided to propose for the annual general assembly a 20% capital increase through a rights issue, whereby new shares will be offered for subscription at a par value of 100 fils and a premium of 900 fils per share.

Al Sager said that the decision to increase NBK's capital fits with the  requirements of the Bank's strategic expansion approach that has been recently demonstrated through a host of successful steps, particularly the remarkable acquisition of a share at the Turkish Bank, the acquisition of Al Watany Bank of Egypt, not to mention enhancing the role played by NBK in financing major economic projects in new regional markets the fact that will consequently enable the bank to achieve greater returns and profits for its shareholders.