IslamicFinance.de

The volume of finance provided by Saudi banks to Kafala-supported small and medium enterprises (SMEs) grew by 28 percent to SR 571.8m in the first quarter of 2014 compared to SR 448.3m in the same period last year. The Kafala Program, meanwhile, issued 652 guarantees for SME projects in Q1, an increase of 34 percent compared to Q1 last year. The value of those guarantees stood at SR 311.6 million. The National Commercial Bank ( NCB ) ranked top supporter to the Kafala Program during the first quarter of the year at 36 percent of the total guarantees, followed by Riyad Bank (22 percent), Rajhi Bank (17 percent), Saudi Hollandi Bank and Samba Financial Group (5 percent for each), whereas the remaining 15 percent of finance went to other banks.

DAMAC Hotels, the hospitality arm of DAMAC Properties , has officially launched the first fully certified Sharia-Compliant serviced hotel apartments in Dubai during the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) Exhibition. Constella is a luxury tower under construction in the thriving community of Jumeirah Village. The full management of the project will be carried out on Sharia principles which results in the issuing of a Sharia Certification by 'Dar Al Sharia'. Constella will have separate swimming pools, gymnasiums and saunas for men and women. The restaurant will also have a single section for men and separate family section. There will be dedicated floors provided for ladies that will be served by female only staff. In addition, Constella will also fully comply to Islamic financing principles, with all funds for the project managed by an Islamic Bank.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) and Fitch Learning concluded a three-month paradigm training course in order to enrich the banking experience of employees, and boost their productive abilities. The training course had a capacity of 90 trainees that were divided into six groups. Fitch Learning staff gave this course based on the requirements of employees. Workshops witnessed competitive performance among the trainees. The course was divided into Sukuk, Client Handling Framework, Real Estate, Traded Equity, Private Equity, Asset Allocation and Diversification. After assessing the requirements of Wealth Management, the bank collaborated with Fitch Learning, in order to address those needs.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd plans to grow its total deposits by up to 20 per cent this year from RM15 billion at present by diversifying its depositor base. Chief Executive Officer Datuk Mohd Redza Shah Abdul Wahid said the bank was aggressively diversifying its depositor base through the "Oh Yeah Deposit Campaign" as well as working with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and business chambers. On overseas ventures, he said the bank was exploring opportunities for tie-ups with Islamic banks in Asean countries which were expected to take place in the next 12 months. Meanwhile, Chief Operating Officer Asri Awang said Bank Muamalat of optimistic of a loans growth of 15 per cent this year from its current financing base of RM11 billion.

The chief executive of Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), Adnan Chilwan, said it was in talks to buy a 40 percent stake in an Indonesian Islamic lender to help diversify its revenues. DIB hopes to conclude a deal before the end of the year and that it will pay for the purchase using its own cash reserves. However, Chilwan declined to name the acquisition target, adding its parent was a listed company. Chilwan said in March that DIB planned to expand its operations into Indonesia, Kenya and other African countries. DIB's last acquisition came last year when it completed the takeover of Dubai-based mortgage lender Tamweel, having previously owned 58.2 percent of the firm before the buyout offer.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has completed a five-year consolidation from 2009 to 2013 and has charted a plan for strong balance sheet growth in 2014-16 period. DIB’s first quarter figures vouch for its growth momentum. While the bank reported a 111 per cent increase in net profit to Dh636.6 million in the first quarter of 2014, the bank’s total assets increased by 6.9 per cent to Dh121.1 billion from the end of 2013. Key themes for this year are to grow both consumer and wholesale banking business achieving return on assets of about 1.7 per cent with a return on equity of 15 to 17 per cent. Improved profitability is targeted through growth in financing book and redeployment of liquidity from low earning assets to higher earning assets.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (Malaysia) Berhad (BTMUM) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form a joint strategic collaboration to tap opportunities in the Islamic finance industry. Khaled Al-Aboodi, ICD’s CEO and general manager, and Naoki Nishida, BTMUM CEO, inked the MoU at BTMU headquarters in Tokyo. The parties intend to leverage each other strengths and expertise especially to expand its Islamic finance activities in the ICD member countries. Khaled Al-Aboodi said the agreement will strengthen and deepen the ICD’s relationship with its non-traditional partners from the Pacific region especially to promote cross-border investment in ICD member states.

International law firm Simmons & Simmons and the Kyrgyz Republic have signed an agreement to provide consultancy services for the development of laws and regulations, supporting the introduction of Takaful and Sukuk in the Kyrgyz Republic. The consultancy services to be provided by Simmons & Simmons are to be funded under a technical assistance grant provided by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). First Vice Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, HE Tayirbek Sarpashev, noted that upon the signing of this Agreement, the Government expects the economy to attract large investments that will favourably affect the development of the financial market and banking sector. The Simmons & Simmons team is led by Muneer Khan, assisted by managing associate Tariq Hameed.

In some countries such as Indonesia, creating shariah-compliant insurance products for the lower middle income people is a necessity that slowly started to gain attention and priority. Awareness for micro insurance, in general, and Islamic micro insurance in particular is still very low. This will affect SME's decision to buy Takaful products. In order to integrate equation viewpoint of Islamic micro insurance between BMT and insurance companies, the Islamic Economic Society (MES) actively held business matching events which were attended by dozens of BMT. Through these efforts, MES hopes to make Indonesian BMT aware that Islamic micro insurance is very important as a risk mitigation strategy for business customers.

Signs are everywhere in Asia that Islamic finance is expanding its frontiers. However, many Asian countries have yet to engage, while even those that have can still do much more to reap their benefits. Malaysia has been the biggest pioneer of the modern Islamic finance industry and dominates global sukuk issuance. Indonesia is another keen advocate of sukuk, both domestically and internationally, but has brought a much smaller $19bn worth of deals. Pakistan, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam and Hong Kong are also potential growth areas. Elsewhere, the market is at best in its nascent stages and very fractured. This, however, is seen as a cause for optimism by bankers.

Deputy Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, Saeed Ahmed has said that the SBP has evolved a comprehensive five-year strategy to promote Islamic mode of banking in the country. The SBP would strive to get 20 percent market share during this period which is 10 percent at the moment, he added. Moreover, the SBP is in regular contact with the Institution of Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi for the establishment of Centre of Excellence on Islamic Banking. He said as soon as the first centre will be established, three more such centres would also be established in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi respectively. Besides, a lot of attention is focused on solutions, which are not far from the Islamic financing where system allows fairness of return, sharing of risk and reducing income inequalities.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding developing joint collaboration to support SMEs in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. Under the terms of the memorandum, the EBRD and the ICD will aim to establish a $120 million investment fund, to develop and to financially support SMEs across the southern and eastern Mediterranean region (SEMED). Various financing products will be used such as equity and quasi-equity.The two institutions will contribute to the SME Fund, as well as exploring additional institutional investors and donor streams in order to provide further SME financing and technical assistance required in the region.

Khazanah Nasional Bhd is reportedly considering selling as much as US$1bil (RM3.26bil) of dollar-denominated exchangeable sukuk. The state-owned entity is currently choosing banks for the potential offer. The notes will be exchangeable into shares of companies controlled by Khazanah. A decision hasn’t yet been made on which equities will be included in this offering. Khazanah also owns 39% of telecommunications company Axiata Group Bhd, the biggest shareholder. It has about RM103.5bil of assets, including a stake in CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. Khazanah’s sukuk is part of a gradual move to make the Malaysian stock market more liquid. Demand for this exchangeable sukuk is expected to be well-received.

Tirad Mahmoud, chief executive of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), believes the banking industry is on the cusp of a historic transformation that will see a convergence between conventional and ethical banking. Mahmoud argues Islamic banking is only part of a larger move towards ethical banking in the post-crisis world. Earlier in April, ADIB acquired the retail operations of Barclays in the United Arab Emirates for a price tag of $177 million, giving it access to expatriate customers. The purchase will see 110,000 accounts transferred to Sharia-compliant accounts. ADIB has posted a 20.4 percent increase in first-quarter net profit, driven by higher lending. Its stock is up over 40 percent so far this year, outperforming the benchmark Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector ( ICD ) together with Al-Nouran Multitrading (ANM), Egypt's private sector sugar trading house, have announced the signing of the Islamic Senior, Mezzanine and Working Capital Facilities Agreements for a new mega sugar production facility in Al-Sharkia Governorate. A total of $372 million will be invested into building this facility, which is expected to produce and refine more than 500,000 metric tons of sugar annually. ICD supported the project by a package including equity investment, mezzanine financing and standby
guarantees of up to $46 million. Further, ICD played a key role in arranging and structuring equity investment and mezzanine financing as well as supported ANM in negotiating and closing remaining financing package.

Pak-Qatar Takaful Group recorded a strong growth with a combined turnover of Rs5.5bn ($54m) for the year ended December 31, 2013. The Group made a profit of Rs74m ($0.7m) during the year. Pak-Qatar Takaful Group, which comprises of Family Takaful and General Takaful, reviewed and approved the financial statements of Pak-Qatar Family Takaful and Pak-Qatar General Takaful for the year during the group's board meeting held recently in Doha. The company's paid-up capital is in excess of Rs710m, with credit rating of 'A' (Stable Outlook) by JCR-VIS Credit Rating Co Ltd.Pak-Qatar Family is recipient of several domestic and international awards and nominations.

Jordan Islamic Bank (JIB) achieved $14.71 million in net profits in Q1 2014, compared to $14.68 million during Q1 2013. The bank’s assets reached about $5.079 billion compared to $4.968 billion by the end of 2013. Clients’ deposits reached about $4.581 billion compared to about $4.500 billion as of end-2013. Facilities and investments reached about $3.565 billion compared to $3.519 billion at end-2013. The non- performing finance (NPF) ratio reached about 4.34 per cent, its coverage ratio about 86 per cent. The bank enhanced its capital base by increasing its paid capital by distributing 20 per cent as free shares to shareholders in addition to distributing cash dividends to shareholders at 15 per cent for the year 2013.

The General Assembly of the Arab Orient Takaful Insurance Company approved to surge its capital to become EGP77.330 million, through pumping EGP12.330 million which started from April17 2014. Mohamed Akef, deputy executive director of financial and administrative affairs said that the Assembly decided financing the increase of cash distributions to shareholders, noting Arab Orient pumped EGP15 million at the end of the last year. The Extraordinary General Assembly agreed to move the company's main headquarters to El-Manial instead of Masr El Gedida (Heliopolis) starting next May, pointing out that the members, shareholders and representatives from the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) have attended the two assemblies.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) will introduce Shariah-based refinancing scheme for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and other thrust sectors, Governor Dr Atiur Rahman said. Referring to the Shariah compliant mode of refinance support from BB's Export Development Fund (EDF), the governor said introduction of similar Shariah compliant refinance support against SMEs and other thrust sector lending by Islamic banks is also underway. The central bank already issued guidelines for Islamic banking in Bangladesh using an approach that delegates to the Shariah-based financing community the self-regulation and oversight of its Shariah compliance practices.

Dubai-based Noor Bank has reported record net profit of Dh85 million for first quarter of 2014, up from Dh31 million for first quarter 2013, an increase of 174 per cent. Return on equity improved to 14 per cent, total assets grew 9 per cent to Dh25.2 billion. Total customer financing increased by 14 per cent to Dh16.3 billion. Customer deposits grew by 11 per cent, reaching Dh20.7 billion. Hussain Al Qemzi, CEO, Noor Bank and Group CEO, Noor Investment Group said that the bank's business strategy continues to focus on satisfying the needs of its customers across wholesale, capital markets, corporate, commercial and personal banking. He believes the franchise is well capitalized and positioned for balanced and sustainable growth.