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Banking & Finance

Banking news and finance news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

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Banking & Finance news

Zaytouna Bay, Beirut. Lebanon has Eurobonds with a face value of $31.3 billion outstanding

Lebanon bondholders pick US bank for debt talks

Lebanon’s bondholders have hired US investment bank Houlihan Lokey as financial adviser for eventual debt talks, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. Lebanon has been engulfed in a severe economic crisis since 2019, when its financial system collapsed under the weight of massive state debts, which prompted a sovereign default in 2020. In […]

Tunisia's banking changes, specifically decreasing cheque reliance, are negatively affecting business income and slowing overall economic progress

Cheque ban and banking changes endanger Tunisian growth

Reforms aimed at reducing Tunisians’ usage of cheques and thereby cutting consumer debt are having a negative impact on the country’s overall economic growth, according to economists. Cheques had until recently been an important tool for both payments and credit in Tunisia, but in February new laws aimed at strengthening the ailing Tunisian economy and […]

Kuwait skyline. Kuwait’s draft law on mortgage financing was submitted for government approval in 2018 and the banking industry appears increasingly confident it will come into effect soon

Caution advised over upsurge in Kuwaiti bank shares

Shares in Kuwaiti banks are hitting new highs as investors bet on a long-mooted change in the law on mortgages coming into force soon and spurring a boom in property financing. However, analysts are warning that the sector’s equity rally may prove unjustified, with any earnings windfall unlikely to be as substantial as those enjoyed […]

Turkey Wealth Fund owns almost half of Turkish Airlines

UAE banks back Turkey Wealth Fund’s $1.2bn loan

State-backed Turkey Wealth Fund has secured its first loan without a treasury guarantee, backed by UAE-listed banks, a local newspaper reported. The sovereign fund raised €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) two-year syndicated loan from 20 banks from 12 countries, Daily Sabah reported. The interest rate was set at Euro interbank offered rate, plus 2 percent annually for […]

London-headquartered Ardonagh will use the fresh funds for potential acquisitions

Adia-backed London insurer seeks funds for growth

Ardonagh Group, a British insurance group backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia), is reportedly close to raising $2.5 billion to fund its expansion. The London-based company will also use the funds for potential acquisitions, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. In December 2024, Adia and US private equity Stone Point Capital announced an investment in […]

Saudi investment minister Khalid Al Falih. International ownership of stock in the Saudi Exchange is at 13%, compared to London's 65%

Riyadh’s financial ambitions bump up against hard reality

Saudi Arabia wants to emulate London or Hong Kong in the international money markets and become a global financial centre, Saudi investment minister Khalid Al-Falih said at a capital markets conference in Riyadh in February. “We need to channel global capital,” he said. “We want to become a regional financial hub.” But judging by the […]

OQ Exploration and Production was Oman's most profitable company, reporting net earnings of OMR327 million

Profits of Muscat-listed companies surge over 50% in 2024

Net profits of publicly-listed companies on the Muscat Stock Exchange rose 53 percent to OMR1.3 billion ($3.4 billion) in 2024, compared to OMR877 million in 2023, according to a news report. Of the 90 listed companies, 69 reported profits in 2024, up from 68 in the previous year, Oman Daily Observer reported. Despite the number […]

Gulf Bank executives at the recent ordinary general meeting

Gulf Bank to pay dividend despite profit fall

Shareholders of Gulf Bank, which trades on the Kuwaiti stock exchange, have approved the payment of an annual dividend and bonus shares for 2024 despite a drop in profit for the year. Shareholders on April 10 will be entitled to 10 percent cash dividends and 5 percent bonus shares, the lender said in a statement. […]

Gulf Islamic Investments CEO Mohammed Alhassan says the company wants to double its US assets to $1.5bn within four years

Gulf Islamic Investments makes US expansion a priority

Gulf Islamic Investments, Dubai’s financial services company which has more than $3.5 billion of assets under management, is aiming to more than double the value of its business in the United States.  GII’s US assets total $750 million and include an 80 percent share in ZSpace, a virtual reality education technology company with a market […]

Saudi Central Bank's nuanced loan-to-deposit calculation indicates that there is opportunity for expanded lending

Saudi banks have room to expand lending

Nuanced loan-to-deposit ratios Diversified liquidity and funding mix Sound Saudi banking metrics The loan books of Saudi Arabian banks now exceed their total deposits, which might normally be a warning sign that the sector’s finances ar... Register now: It’s easy and free This content is available for registered members only. Register for your free account […]

Emirates NBD Egypt Banque du Caire

Emirates NBD downplays reports of Egyptian acquisition

Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank by assets, has refuted media reports that it is undertaking due diligence on a state-owned Egyptian bank ahead of potentially buying a stake in the lender. Last week, Kuwaiti and Egyptian media published articles detailing how Emirates NBD – which has an Egyptian subsidiary – had begun examining the books […]

Marketing Home Group, MHG, Marketing Home Group IPO, MHG IPO

Marketing Home Group wins Saudi IPO regulatory approval

Saudi Arabia’s Marketing Home Group (MHG), a company that oversees nine construction retailers and contractors, has received regulatory approval to sell shares to the public in an initial public offering (IPO). MHG is selling 4.8 million shares, representing 30 percent of its capital, the kingdom’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) announced. No further details were given […]

The Rolls Building in London, where high-value commercial cases are heard. The Kuwait pension fund trial is expected to last one year

Kuwait pension fund’s $1bn lawsuit begins in London

Kuwait’s public pension fund has accused asset manager Man Group, Swiss bank EFG and others of laundering bribes paid to its late director as a $1 billion trial begins at London’s High Court. The Public Institution for Social Security, which operates Kuwait’s social security and pension scheme, is also suing the estate of Fahad Al Rajaan, its director from 1984 to […]

Kingdom Holding Company owner Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, pictured last year at Riyadh's Kingdom Arena

Kingdom Holding to pay 2024 dividend despite revenue drop

Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), the conglomerate owned by Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, will pay an annual dividend despite a fall in revenues for 2024. The dividend payout will reach SAR1 billion ($267 million), or 2.8 percent of its capital, the investment company said in a statement to the Saudi stock exchange on Monday. […]

People sitting on bicycles look on amidst flood water following heavy rainfall, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 19, 2024

Ominvest 2024 profits hit by insurance subsidiary losses

Losses at an insurance subsidiary caused by the deadly floods that struck Oman and the UAE last year hit profits at Oman International Development and Investment Company (Ominvest), a large listed holding company. Ominvest reported net profit of $96 million in 2024, down 7 percent year on year from $104 million in 2023. The company’s […]

Boat, Transportation, Vehicle

Aldar’s green sukuk seven times oversubscribed

Aldar Properties said the $500 million sukuk (Islamic bond) issued by its subsidiary was oversubscribed more than seven times. The sukuk order book of Aldar Investment Properties reached $3.6 billion, with regional and global investors making up 61 percent and 39 percent of the requests, the developer said in a statement. Sukuk are sharia-compliant bonds […]

A Cairo branch of Banque Du Caire, which is Egypt’s sixth largest bank by assets

Emirates NBD to buy stake in Egypt’s Banque du Caire

Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank by assets, has begun due diligence ahead of buying a stake in Egypt’s sixth-largest commercial bank, Banque du Caire. The purchase would be the latest sale of a government-owned asset in a stalled privatisation programme, according to regional media. Egypt agreed an expanded $8 billion loan from the International Monetary […]

Project finance is becoming ever more important in funding the growing number of major infrastructure projects across the Gulf region

Project finance central to funding Gulf infrastructure

Financing a project and project finance are not necessarily the same thing. Irrespective, project finance is as important as ever in the Gulf in funding billions of dollars of infrastructure projects, from energy and water schemes to data centres and battery storage facilities, according to experts.  Abbas Hussein, global head of infrastructure and development finance […]

2X5K4RN Multi-Ethnic Office Conference Room Meeting: Diverse Team of Top Managers, Executives, Share Digital Tablet Computer Talk. Businesspeople Discuss Strategy, do Analysis.

Growth-stage investment heats up as Gulf IPOs gain traction

Global investors are increasingly vying for stakes in later-stage Gulf startups, betting on the region’s economic expansion and stronger exit opportunities, as the regional IPO markets gain momentum. The region, long overlooked for growth-stage capital – minority investments in established companies aimed at accelerating expansion – is witnessing a surge of interest from giants such […]

First Abu Dhabi Bank will pay AED8.3 billion ($2.3 billion) in cash dividends for 2024

First Abu Dhabi Bank to pay highest-ever dividend

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the biggest lender by assets in the UAE, has announced the highest-ever cash dividend on higher annual revenues in 2024, the company said in a statement. The lender will pay AED8.3 billion ($2.3 billion) in cash dividends for 2024, at 75 fils per share, equivalent to 51 percent of group net […]

Workers at a construction site near Riyadh. The need for project finance has grown as Gulf governments push ahead with mega-projects

The changing face of project finance around the Gulf

Contrasting trends are emerging in Gulf project finance, with deals increasing in duration but also more likely to be refinanced early. Project finance is a funding model often used for infrastructure, in which repayment comes from revenue generated by the completed facility rather than being guaranteed by the owners. “Repayment depends on the project succeeding,” […]