Banking & Finance $500m Aldar green bond ‘four times oversubscribed’ Aldar Investment Properties – a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s biggest real estate developer Aldar Properties – has launched a $500 million 10-year green debut Islamic bond, it said in a stock market filing on Thursday. The issuance marks Aldar Properties’ first return to international capital markets since 2019, when it launched its debut 10-year sukuk, […] May 18, 2023
Banking & Finance Saudi’s latest sukuk issuance gets $17bn worth of orders Saudi Arabia has launched a dollar-denominated sukuk with tenors of six and 10 years for the second time this year. The Arab world’s largest economy drew over $17 billion in demand for the issue, Reuters reported, citing a bank document. The initial guidance for the six and 10-year sukuk was at 110 basis points (bps) […] May 16, 2023
Banking & Finance UAE’s first dirham T-sukuk gets bids worth $2.3bn The UAE’s first AED1.1 billion ($299.6 million) dirham-denominated Islamic treasury sukuk (T-sukuk) was oversubscribed 7.6 times, getting bids worth AED8.3 billion ($2.26 billion). The strong demand was witnessed across both tranches, with a final allocation of AED 550 million for the two-year tranche, and AED 550 million for the three-year tranche, the ministry of finance […] May 11, 2023
Banking & Finance UAE to sell first dirham T-sukuk worth nearly $300m The UAE will sell AED1.1 billion ($299.6 million) of Islamic treasury sukuk (T-sukuk) for the first time in the local currency, state-run WAM news agency reported. The T-sukuk will be issued with tranches maturing in two, three and five years, followed by a 10-year bond at a later date. Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, minister […] April 27, 2023
Analysis Banking & Finance Mergers push Islamic banking forwards in Bahrain Hundreds of Islamic banking executives are descending on Bahrain next month for the Islamic Finance Innovation Day on May 30. Under the patronage of the Central Bank of Bahrain, it will focus on embedding environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing into Islamic finance. The event comes as analysts predict that Islamic banking’s market share will […] April 26, 2023
Opinion Lifestyle Dubai’s evolving approach to Ramadan Striking a pragmatic balance between the transactional and the spiritual April 21, 2023
Banking & Finance Dubai’s Damac mandates banks for $500m sukuk issue Dubai-based Damac Real Estate Limited (Damac) has mandated banks to arrange investor meetings before a potential three-year benchmark US dollar-denominated sukuk worth at least $500 million. Investor calls and meetings were set to begin on Thursday and run to April 17, Reuters reported, citing a document from one of the mandated banks. Deutsche Bank, Emirates […] April 14, 2023
Banking & Finance No comment from Emirates NBD on bid for Indian bank Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank, declined to comment to AGBI on Thursday following reports that it is one of at least five potential bidders for a majority stake in India’s state-owned IDBI Bank. Emirates NBD and its rival First Abu Dhabi are on the lookout for foreign acquisitions as the Gulf state’s domestic banking sector […] April 13, 2023
Banking & Finance Gulf IPO market could ride out global jitters with state offerings A wave of initial public offerings in Abu Dhabi shows little sign of abating, despite global market jitters and rising interest rates as investors bet on the emirate’s part-privatisation drive. While Saudi Arabia and Dubai’s bourses have also offered a flurry of new listings over the past 18 months, it’s the UAE capital that is […] April 11, 2023
Opinion Banking & Finance Will GCC banks shrug off the global banking meltdown? A number of key differences set Gulf banks apart from their crisis-hit US and European counterparts April 7, 2023
Banking & Finance Bahrain’s sukuk and bond order book hits $7.8bn Bahrain has tightened guidance for its US dollar-denominated sukuk (Islamic bonds) and conventional bonds after it received combined orders of over $7.8 billion for the debt sale. Guidance was tightened to around 6.5 percent for the seven-year sukuk and 7.75-7.875 percent for the 12-year notes, Reuters reported, citing the document from one of the arranging […] April 7, 2023
Banking & Finance PIF-backed Saudi Electricity plans sale of dollar sukuk Saudi Electricity Company is planning to issue a green or conventional sukuk (Islamic bonds) denominated in US dollars. The banks will hold meetings with fixed-income investors starting Friday (March 31), the company said in a statement to the Saudi bourse. The issuance amount will be determined later based on market conditions and requirements. The company […] March 31, 2023
Banking & Finance Saudi’s Al Rajhi Bank to raise $1bn via sustainable sukuk Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Bank is set to raise $1 billion with five-year sustainable Islamic bonds, according to a media report. The spread on the sukuk was set at 110 basis points (bps) over US Treasuries (UST), tightened from initial price guidance of around 150 bps over UST after demand topped $3.75 billion, Reuters reported, […] March 30, 2023
Banking & Finance Saudi’s Al Rajhi Bank plans dollar sustainable sukuk Al Rajhi Bank is planning to issue US dollar-denominated sustainable Islamic bond, as part of its international sukuk programme launched last year. Al Rajhi Capital, Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Emirates NBD, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, KFH Capital and Standard Chartered are joint lead managers and bookrunners for the sukuk issuance, the Saudi-listed bank said in […] March 28, 2023
Analysis Banking & Finance A first as Dubai bank prices $600m sukuk for US firm Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank, has successfully priced a $600 million sukuk for New York-listed Air Lease Corporation. It marks the first sukuk issued by a US corporation. A sukuk is a Sharia-compliant financial certificate, similar to a bond in Western finance but that complies with Islamic religious law. The five-year sukuk saw robust demand, […] March 26, 2023
Sustainability Top Gulf banks help raise $787m in sustainable credits Two leading Gulf banks have helped arrange nearly $800 million in sustainability-linked loans for a leading agricultural producer based in Singapore, as local institutions prioritise green lending in their portfolios. First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the UAE’s largest bank by assets, and National Bank of Kuwait, the country’s biggest financial institution, acted as lead arrangers, […] February 24, 2023
Banking & Finance PIF’s $5.5bn green bond sets tone for ‘strong pipeline’ in Mena Saudi Arabia’s sovereign Public Investment Fund has raised $5.5 billion through its latest green bond issuance, supporting expectations of a strong year for sustainable bonds in the Middle East. The issuance was more than six times oversubscribed – with books exceeding $33 billion – and will be used to finance or refinance eligible green projects, […] February 13, 2023
Banking & Finance UAE tops international ranking for green finance commitment The UAE has been recognised for its commitment to financing a green and sustainable future. The Gulf state recorded the highest scores among several key markets in the Financial Services: State of the Nation Survey 2022, which spoke to 758 managers at financial institutions and banks across France, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK, the […] January 25, 2023
Banking & Finance Dubai Islamic Bank’s profit rises 26% to $1.5bn in 2022 Dubai Islamic Bank’s (DIB) net profit rose 26 percent year-on-year to AED5.55 billion ($1.51 billion) in 2022 due to higher revenue, prudent cost management and sustained lower impairments. Chairman Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani revealed that DIB achieved its strongest year in its history as total income reached AED14 billion, a 20 percent YoY growth and […] January 25, 2023
Analysis Banking & Finance Saudi SMEs look to sharia funding to balance cash flow In Saudi Arabia, small to medium-sized companies are increasingly turning to sharia-compliant funding to raise money for their businesses. But rather than borrow from banks, these SMEs instead rely on the kingdom’s nascent fintech sector to obtain bridging loans, invoice financing and other kinds of niche financial support. “SMEs are underserved by the banking sector, […] January 24, 2023
Opinion Banking & Finance The three sources of risk GCC banks must look out for in 2023 The cost of risk in the Gulf is expected to normalise and bank earning levels should recover to near pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022 December 12, 2022
Banking & Finance MAF clinches $1.25bn sustainability-linked loan UAE-based retail group Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) has secured its second sustainability-linked loan as part of its strategy to become ‘net carbon positive’ by 2040. The $1.25 billion-equivalent revolving credit facility with First Abu Dhabi Bank was agreed on Monday. MAF, which owns and operates 29 shopping malls across the Middle East and Africa as […] December 5, 2022