Riyadh – Mubasher: Fitch Ratings has placed Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC) a long-term issuer default rating (IDR) of 'A', with negative outlook.

As for the company’s operating performance, Fitch expected SRC's capitalisation to remain sound in its startup phase and the equity to assets ratio to stabilise at nearly 8% during the period from 2019 to 2023.

This is despite assets expansion to more than SAR 70 billion in 2023 from SAR 2.25 billion in 2019. Fitch noted that “this will be driven by policy-induced acquisition of mortgage loans, with a significant expansion of borrowing in the capital markets through domestic and international sukuk.”

Last month, SRC reportedly completed a dual tenor of seven- and 10-year sukuk issuances worth SAR 4 billion.

More than 30% of the issuances was subscribed through a mix of asset managers, pension fund, government funds, and insurance companies.