IslamicFinance.de

Saudi-based Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Bros Co (AHAB) said it was about to start talks with creditors, after a newspaper reported it and Saad Group are seeking to restructure USD 10 bn in debt.

Saad Trading Contracting & Financial Services Co.’s debt securities, known as sukuk, are trading for 25 cents on the dollar compared with this year’s high of 79 cents on Feb. 26, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Saad Group on June 2 appointed BDO Capital Finance to advise the company on restructuring plans after the Saudi central bank last month froze bank accounts of al-Sanea and his family members, reported Haris Anwar on Bloomberg.

Saudi billionaire's firm denies that Kuwaiti assets are frozen; as Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai had reported previously.

Saudi Arabia said it launches its new market for Islamic bonds, or sukuk, and bonds.Tadawul currently trades Islamic bond issues by only two listed firms - Saudi Basic Industries Corp and Saudi Electricity, which will launch sukuk on Saturday worth 5 billion saudi riyals. The government is a major shareholder in both firms.

Saudi Arabia needs 1 million new houses by 2014 to meet the needs of its growing population but house prices are seen falling in the short term due to the global credit crisis, HSBC said in a report. The bank forecast a 15 % decline in house prices and rents in the kingdom's capital Riyadh in 2009 due to credit shortage , with a slow recovery expected in 2010. The rapidly growing population means there are shortages in residential, commercial, retail and hospitality property in Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, Madinah and the Eastern Province according to the report.

The total demand for residential units in Saudi Arabia will be in the range of 500,000 to 800,000 during the period 2009-13. The currently planned organised supply will provide about 73,000 units during 2009-13 and the rest will be tapped by current and future projects by smaller size developers and major projects planned in future.

The CMA announced on 7 June that Saudi Electricity Company’s request to offer Sukuk in the period from (13/6/2009) G to (28/6/2009) G. More details will be published in the prospectus to the public.

Andrew England in Abu Dhabi and Abeer Allam in Riyadh reported in the Financial Times about the Saudi conglomerate owned by Maan Al-Sanea.

The statement by Saad Group – its first admission that it is facing difficulties – came after bankers said the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama) had frozen the personal accounts of Mr Sanea and members of his family.

IslamicFinance.de: Saad Group is related to the Golden Belt Sukuk. No information was given in the article hereto.

Saudi Arabia plans to set up a Fannie Mae-style company in conjunction with the upcoming mortgage law to buy mortgages from financial institutions and help develop national sukuk and debt markets, Saudi Arabia's finance minister Ibrahim al-Assaf said according to Reuters.

Istanbul Declaration Adopted By The First Meeting Of The Development And Cooperation Institutions Of The Member States Of The Organisation Of The Islamic Conference (May 13-14, 2009) Istanbul, Republic Of Turkey

Date: 16/05/2009 - View in: Arabic | French - Print

We, the Heads/Representatives of the Development and Cooperation Institutions (DCIs) of the Member States of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Heads of Delegations participating in the First Meeting of the Development and Cooperation Institutions of the OIC Member States held in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey on 13-14 May 2009,

Inspired by the OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action, adopted by the Third Extraordinary Islamic Summit held in Makkah Al-Mukarramah in December 2005,

Commending the OIC General Secretariat, the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) for their initiative of convening the First Meeting of the Development and Cooperation Institutions of the OIC Member States,

Press Release

LONDON (Standard & Poor's) May 22, 2009--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it revised to negative from stable its outlook on Saudi Arabia-based Saad Group and related entities, owing to our view of its increased real estate exposure resulting in the reduced liquidity and geographic diversity of its portfolio. At the same time, the 'BBB+/A-2' corporate credit ratings were affirmed.

The outlook revision reflects our view of Saad Group's reduced portfolio liquidity and diversity, with real estate holdings in Saudi Arabia constituting a substantially larger portion of Saad Group's asset base than previously. Due in part to current economic conditions, we are applying more conservative metrics for Saad Group's ratings, by altering our previous treatment of some of Saad Group's assets and liabilities. We also lowered our loan-to-value (LTV) threshold for the rating to 25% from 30%.

Fitch Ratings affirmed Al-Rajhi's long-term issuer default rating (IDR) at "A+" with a stable outlook. Its short-term IDR at "F1", individual rating at "B/C" and support rating at '1'. The bank continues to dominate the Islamic market segment and retail banking, which has been historically its main focus. The bank's long-term IDR is unlikely to change unless the sovereign rating changes.

Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, a unit of Islamic Development Bank plans to invest as much as USD 500 mn in PT Bank Negara Indonesia’s Shariah- compliant banking unit to help it expand in Asia, specifically Indonesia, Southern Thailand and Malaysia.

The nation’s Shariah-compliant banking assets rose 47 % to 48.4 trillion rupiah (USD 4.6 bn) at the end of 2008, according to Bank Indonesia data.

Press Release

LONDON, April 29, 2009--In the spring of 2009, uncertainty remains the dominant theme for insurance companies and banks across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, as it does internationally, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services noted in a report, titled "Insurance Markets In Saudi Arabia In The Wake of Regulatory Restructuring And The Global Economic Downturn."

Even within the GCC, however, Standard & Poor's detects a widespread belief that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and its financial institutions have been less affected by the downturn than most of its neighbors, and that recovery will likely come more quickly there than elsewhere. Meanwhile, the ongoing flow of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) on the Tadawul Stock Exchange in Riyadh in 2009--including the April IPOs of insurers Al Rajhi, Weqaya, ACE Arabia, and AXA Cooperative to raise a cumulative Saudi Arabian riyal 260 million (approximately $69 million) of new capital--indicate that Saudi investors still have considerable liquid assets with which to support attractive business propositions.

Four Saudi insurance firms launched on Saturday initial public offerings to raise a total SAR 260 mn. Axa Cooperative Insurance Co and Wiqaya Takaful Insurance and Re-insurance Co will offer a 40 % stake, or 8 mn shares each. Ace Arabia Cooperative Insurance Co will also offer a 40 % stake equivalent to 4 mn shares, while Al Rajhi Company for Cooperative Insurance will offer 30 %, or 6 mn shares.

Sukuk trading is about to start this year in Saudi according to the chairman of the capital market authority, Dr Abdulrahman Al Tuwaijri.

A lack of legislation is seriously hampering domestic issues of Sukuk in Kuwait, forcing companies to go abroad, Abdulkader Thomas, president of consultancy Shape Financial Corp said to Ulf Laessing and Raissa Kasolowsky published on Reuters. A ministerial decree allowing sukuk issued in 2007 was not adequate for the market to flourish, Thomas said. Saudi Arabia would also have to overhaul its legislation for its sukuk market to function more effectively.

Islamic insurer t'azur is looking to make acquisitions in the Gulf Arab and Middle East regions, in particular Saudi-Arabia.

T'azur, which offers family and general insurance, started operations in Bahrain and Kuwait last year and has an initial authorised capital of $500 million.

Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) plans to issue USD 5 bn Sukuk, over the next five years to finance its programmes.

IDB's president Mr Ali said he expected 2009 issue would be priced higher and that the new sukuk would increase the IDB’s 2009 financing programme by 15 %.

The Kuwait Finance House (KFH) is set to open an investment bank in Saudi Arabia with a capital of SAR 500 mn (USD 133.3 mn). KFH is further looking into investment opportunities in the UAE, Oman and Qatar.