IslamicFinance.de

Dubai's DAMAC Properties said on Tuesday that it raised $100 million through private placement of 18-month sukuk certificates. The certificates, rated BB by Standard & Poors, were issued by its unit Damac Real Estate Development Ltd, it said in a bourse statement. Emirates NBD was the sole lead manager for the transaction.

The International Finance Facility for Immunisation Co. (IFFIm) has hired banks for a return to the Islamic bonds market, a funding exercise that has helped add Muslim countries to the donor base of its immunisation programmes. This year, the governments of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar have pledged to donate a combined $38 million to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), the first Muslim nations to so. This follows the debut issuance of sukuk from IFFIm, which raised $500 million in November after attracting bids of $700 million. The second sukuk from IFFIm, for which the World Bank acts as treasury manager, has a three-year tenor and could raise $200 million to $250 million, said IFFIm Board Chair Rene Karsenti.

Turkish Islamic lenders Turkiye Finans Katilim Bankasi and Albaraka Turk have applied separately to issue Islamic bonds, according to Turkey's Capital Markets Board. Turkiye Finans has applied to raise up to 1.5 billion lira ($513.2 million) through its wholly-owned unit, TF Varlik Kiralama. No tenor or details of underlying assets were given for the deal, which could be sold as a public offering or to qualified investors. Albaraka Turk, a unit of Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group, has also applied to raise up to 1 billion lira through its asset-leasing company, Bereket Varlik Kiralama. The bulk of sukuk issuance in Turkey has come from the government and the country's Islamic banks, although corporate issuance is also growing.

International Finance Corp (IFC), a unit of the World Bank, plans to meet fixed income investors starting on Monday ahead of a potential issue of U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk. IFC, rated Aaa/AAA by international rating agencies, has picked Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered Bank to arrange the investor meetings. The meetings will be held in the Middle East, with a possible sukuk issue to follow subject to market conditions. No details about the size of the issue or maturity were given. The sukuk will be listed on Nasdaq Dubai and an application will also be made for a subsequent listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank (NCB) is selling a 2 billion riyal ($533.3 million) sukuk as part of its plans to raise capital. The offer, which enhances the bank's Tier 1 - or core - capital and is compliant with Basel III banking regulations, is the third such transaction by NCB since June, and is part of a plan to raise as much as 7 billion riyals of capital before the end of 2015. In the same way as the previous two issues, the latest sukuk is structured with a perpetual tenor but with a clause in the documentation which allows the bank to redeem the Islamic bond after a certain date. NCB Capital is acting as sole arranger. The transaction will be privately placed with one or more government-owned investment funds.

Saudi Arabia's Al Othaim Real Estate and Investment Co, owner of five shopping malls in the kingdom, is marketing a five-year debut sukuk issue which could raise up to 1 billion riyals ($267 million) for the company. The firm, also known as Othaim Malls, is part of Al Othaim Holding, a family-owned conglomerate which includes listed food retailer Abdullah Al Othaim Markets Co. Othaim Malls launched the transaction last week, with pricing earmarked at between 165 basis points and 175 basis points over the six-month Saudi interbank offered rate. Part of the proceeds will be used to fund its expansion plans.

Albaraka Turk Katilim Bankasi AS mandates BC Islamic Bank (E.C.), Barwa Bank Q.S.C., Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, Emirates NBD Capital Limited, Kuwait International Bank ve Standard Chartered Bank for a murabaha syndication loan with a total initial amount of $400 million in EUR and USD currency. The loan is going to have maturity periods of 367 days and 2 years 3 days.

Tunisian firms are preparing to issue Islamic bonds as the government finalises rules covering the sector, creating a new funding option for companies in an economy buffeted by labour unrest and militant attacks. Best Lease aims to raise up to 30 million dinars ($15.6 million) to finance its growth, with Banque Zitouna and El Wifack Leasing also considering sukuk issues. State-owned electricity and water utilities may follow suit, while national carrier Tunisair could tap the market later after clearing legislative hurdles. The government is also preparing to issue its first sovereign sukuk this year. Meanwhile, the IDB is helping to establish an Islamic microfinance institution in Tunisia.

Bahrain's Arab Insurance Group is in discussions to take full ownership of Dubai-based Islamic reinsurer Takaful Re, as regulatory moves add pressure on firms to consolidate. ARIG is planning to buy the remaining 46 percent of shares it doesn't already own in Takaful Re, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Major shareholders of Takaful Re include Dubai Investments, Emirates Funds, Emirates Industrial Bank and the Islamic Development Bank, each holding a 10 percent stake. The regulatory measures have already prompted some consolidation steps, like Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Co raising its stake in local peer Takaful International to 40.9 percent.

Bank Muscat, Oman's largest lender, has delayed plans to launch a 500 million rial ($1.3 billion) sukuk programme after the central bank rejected the proposal, a source at the bank said. The regulator informed Bank Muscat in writing that it would not accept the plans in their current form, which involved the lender asking for a single approval to issue 100 million rials a year for the next five years, the source said, adding that the central bank had concerns over plans to use the sukuk proceeds to increase personal lending. The bank will restructure the sukuk proposal and file for the approval again. The plans for the sukuk to be issued in various tranches was backed by Bank Muscat's shareholders in March.

Saudi Arabia's Arab National Bank has received regulatory approval to raise 2 billion riyals ($533.28 million)through sukuk which will enhance its supplementary capital. The kingdom's seventh-largest lender by assets will privately place the Tier 2 sukuk with a tenor of 10 years although it allows the issuer to redeem the security after five years. Arab National Bank joins a string of Saudi Arabian banks that have sought to replenish their capital reserves in the last couple of years by issuing capital-boosting bonds and bonus shares following a period of strong lending growth. Capital reserves are high in Saudi Arabia due to the kingdom's conservative regulatory standards.

Indonesian regulators are promoting new sharia-compliant financial tools and considering easing foreign ownership limits for domestic Islamic banks, seeking to make the sector more appealing to foreign lenders. This year the financial regulator, Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), launched a five-year strategy that aims to triple the sector's market share to 15 percent by 2023. Attracting foreign capital is part of those plans; the OJK is considering easing foreign ownership ceilings for Islamic banks, now at 40 percent. Meanwhile, companies can raise cash in foreign currencies more easily with Islamic instruments, after the country's national sharia board approved sharia-compliant currency hedging tools in April.

A group of Indonesian Islamic banks launched on Thursday a standard contract template for sharia-compliant repurchase agreements, aiming to broaden the liquidity management tools available in the sector. The standard will serve as an alternative to interest-based repurchase agreements. Currently Islamic banks in Indonesia rely on tools provided by the central bank, such as an Islamic overnight deposit facility known as FASBIS, while the new agreement would standardise bank-to-bank transactions and help ensure they are cost-effective. An initial group of 18 Islamic banks and Islamic banking units are signatories to the master agreement, which allows use of government-issued Islamic bonds as collateral while tenors can be of no more than one year.

Malaysia's Tenaga Nasional Bhd is seeking to raise as much as 10 billion ringgit ($2.7 billion) in an Islamic bond issue to develop a power plant project it is planning to take over from debt-laden state fund 1MDB. The planned purchase of 1MDB's 70 percent stake in 3B, a greenfield 2,000 MW coal-fired plant project, will take the pressure off 1MDB to find the funds to develop the project and help it focus on paring down debt of more than $11 billion - a burden that has weighed on Malaysia's currency and its credit rating. It also fits well with Tenaga's own energy supply needs, although some analysts are worried that the company may end up overpaying if the government pushes for 1MDB to gain the best deal it can.

A unit of Stanford Marine Group has closed a 1.2 billion dirham ($326.7 million) sharia-compliant loan deal with a group of banks to consolidate its debts into one facility at a cheaper cost, the arranging bank said on Monday. The murabaha-structured facility for offshore vessel operator Stanford Asia Holding Company was arranged by Dubai-based Noor Bank, with five other banks from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar taking part, it said. No pricing or length of the murabaha, a cost-plus-profit arrangement, were provided.

London-based investment bank Gatehouse Bank Plc said on Monday it promoted Will Innes as vice president within its real estate investment team. He will work with Will Lowndes, vice president of real estate investment, and will be responsible for sourcing and originating real estate transactions across UK and continental Europe, Gatehouse said. Innes, who joined Gatehouse in January 2014, previously worked at Waypoint Capital where he was responsible for developing international private equity real estate platform.

Bahrain-based Islamic investment firm Arcapita said on Wednesday it had sold its real estate portfolio of retirement communities across the United States to NorthStar Healthcare Income Trust for $640 million. The portfolio includes 16 facilities and 4,000 residential units for continuing senior care. Net operating income from the portfolio grew by 41 percent between 2010 and 2014, despite a slump in the U.S. housing market following the 2008 financial crisis. Abdulmalik said the firm has given $3 billion in exit proceeds to its investors in the last two years but did not give a breakdown of profits for its real estate portfolio exit. In November, Arcapita completed a $100 million fundraising, a little over a year after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy driven by debt repayment difficulties.

The five-year strategy from Indonesia’s financial services authority, Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), charts an extensive agenda ranging from reducing fees on sharia-compliant products to developing education and training programmes. Authorities want Indonesia’s Islamic banks to hold at least 15 percent of the market by 2023, an ambitious target considering the sector’s growth is stalling. Part of the problem lies with low financial literacy among the public, with Islamic finance further behind, according to a nationwide survey commissioned by the OJK. The roadmap would expand on education and promotion activities, while developing rules and industry certification for religious experts that endorse Islamic financial products.

Saudi Arabia's Al Othaim Real Estate and Investment Co, owner of five shopping malls in the kingdom, has revived plans to issue a debut local currency Islamic bond, probably after the summer. The firm has picked the investment banking arms of Banque Saudi Fransi, Gulf International Bank and National Commercial Bank as lead arrangers for the riyal-denominated bond. Timing is now centred on issuing after the summer, as activity in the Saudi capital markets slows down for the holy month of Ramadan, expected to start later this month, and then the long summer break away from the desert heat. After a slow start to the year, sukuk issuance in the riyal-denominated market has picked up in recent weeks.

Asian sukuk offerings are drawing more demand from the Middle East, boding well for regional hubs such as Hong Kong as they try to raise their profiles in the Islamic finance market. When the Government of Hong Kong issued a $1bn five-year sukuk last week, 42% was allocated to the Middle East, up from 36% for the borrower's debut Islamic bond last September. Middle-Eastern buyers also snapped up 56% of a five-year $500 million offering by Indonesian airline Garuda Indonesia. The momentum in Asian sukuk offerings is raising hopes that Hong Kong will be able to achieve its goal of stimulating more Islamic issuance from the city. Alexi Chan, HSBC's global co-head of debt capital markets believes the time is right for issuers from Greater China to consider the sukuk market as a viable option in a diversified funding approach.