DUBAI- Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co (SRC) has been assigned an 'A' credit rating by Fitch Ratings before a planned issuance of international bonds, an executive told Saudi TV channel Al Arabiya on Monday.

SRC plans to issue up to $1 billion in sukuk, or Islamic bonds, before the end of the year, its director of treasury and global capital markets told Al Arabiya. 

The company, which is wholly owned by sovereign fund the Public Investment Fund, has a portfolio of loans of 6.5 billion riyals ($1.73 billion) at the end of 2020, Al Arabiya said in a report.

The company aims to have 20% market share of Saudi Arabia's real estate loans by 2025, Al Arabiya said.

Last month, SRC sold 4 billion riyals in a two-tranche private placement of sukuk, guaranteed by the Saudi finance ministry. The company said it planned to issue between $500 million and $1 billion in bonds by the end of this year, likely with a tenor of between 10 and 12 years. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2L708V

($1 = 3.7504 riyals)

(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Writing by Yousef Saba; Editing by Edmund Blair and Louise Heavens) ((Yousef.Saba@thomsonreuters.com; +971562166204; Reuters Messaging: https://twitter.com/YousefSaba))