IslamicFinance.de

In a new report, Fitch Ratings says Islamic finance is a mature and developed industry in Saudi Arabia, representing about two-thirds of total bank financing. About 38% comes from Islamic banks and 28% from the Islamic windows of conventional banks. Due to the largely Islamic finance nature of the lending market in Saudi Arabia, the performance and credit matrices of both Islamic and conventional banks are to a large extent similar. All banks are subject to a single supervisory authority and the same disclosure requirements. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) regulates sharia-compliant banks in the same way as it regulates conventional banks. However, one of the key differences between conventional and Islamic banks is the structure of their liquidity/investment portfolios.

Bahrain-based Ibdar Bank has announced that it has made a £8 million investment in a prime new residential project. Angel Gardens, consisting of residential 458-apartments and a total development value of £124 million, forms part of the wider NOMA re-development project aimed at transforming Manchester city centre. The development is being funded through a combination of equity invested by Ibdar and other co-investors and senior debt to be obtained from one of the Banks. Forecasts indicate an expected income return through operations starting at 9.1% on stabilized income, rising to 10.8% per annum after three years of stabilised operations and a targeted IRR of +15% over a five year investment period.

Bahrain's Al Baraka Islamic Bank plans to open a sharia-compliant bank in France next year as the lender seeks to expand into Europe, Chief Executive Adnan Ahmed Yousif said on Sunday. France has one of the largest Muslim populations in Europe but cultural and legal obstacles have impeded the development of its Islamic finance industry. Some Gulf-based Islamic banks that have expanded in Europe have gone elsewhere. Qatar's Masraf Al Rayan owns Al Rayan Bank in the United Kingdom, while Kuwait Finance House's Turkish arm opened its first branch in Germany last year. Al Baraka also plans to acquire a bank in Indonesia either this year or in 2017 and was in talks with the Indonesian central bank governor, Yousif said.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) is studying the issuance of Islamic bonds that would boost its capital reserves. The offering still requires necessary approvals, its chief executive Mazen al-Nahedh said. The firm could issue capital bonds that either enhance its core Tier 1 capital or its supplementary Tier 2 capital. Besides sukuk plans for the parent company, KFH is also planning to issue Tier 2-enhancing sukuk this year for its Turkish subsidiary. The firm expects the issue will happen this year to support its capital situation so it can grow, he added.

President Beji Caid Essebsi and the Bahrain Prime Minister agreed to restart the mega project Tunis Financial Harbor, said official spokesman for the Presidency of the Republic, Moez Sinaoui. This mega project is financed by the Gulf Finance House, an Islamic Investment Bank of Bahrain, with a budget of 7.5 billion dinars. It will set up the first financial center for offshore banking institutions in North Africa. The Financial Harbor will house a set of shopping centers and residential units and recreation spaces: marina, golf courses.

Tasked with managing the kingdom's non-oil and gas investments, Mumtalakat seeks to turn around state-owned enterprises by promoting private sector-style transparency and sound corporate governance. The $11.2 billion fund holds stakes in 38 enterprises, including many of the country's largest employers, with a total value of about $8 billion. It has undertaken major restructurings at several of these companies, including two of the most critical: Aluminum Bahrain and Gulf Air. Mumtalakat is also beginning to flex its muscles as a portfolio investor, taking significant minority stakes in three foreign companies over the past two years in a bid to diversify its holdings and provide knock-on benefits to the Bahraini economy.

Takaud and Bahrain-based Takaful International are partnering to provide Takaful’s individual and corporate life insurance clients with Sharia-compliant investment solutions. The new partnership will enable Takaful to provide customers of its unit-linked savings policies with the opportunity to invest the savings portion of their policy in Shari’ah-compliant growth, balanced or prudent investment strategies. In support of the agreement, Takaud will provide a complete range of services, along with tools enabling customers to identify their investment profiles. Takaud will also provide marketing assistance and training for Takaful agents and others who will be presenting these new investment strategies to customers. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Takaud’s CEO Mr Luc Métivier and Takaful’s CEO Mr Younis J. Al Sayed.

Bahrain's central bank said on Tuesday it is taking steps to close down Iranian-owned Future Bank, which is based in the Gulf state. Bahrain's central bank has not elaborated on its reasons for the action. Future Bank, based in Manama, is a commercial bank which was founded as a joint venture between two Iranian banks - Bank Saderat and Bank Melli - and Bahrain's Ahli United Bank. The bank's assets stood at 569.4 million dinars ($1.51 billion) at the end of September 2015. On Monday, Ebtisam al-Arrayed, head of regulatory policy at the central bank, said that the regulator had yet to make a decision about Future Bank after placing it under its administration last year, along with Iran Insurance Co - the Bahrain branch of an Iranian insurer.

According to the official statistics, nearly 85 percent of the Kuwaiti population is still employed by the government. While the last decade has showed a surge in entrepreneurial initiatives, roadblocks and barriers remain. There have been many initiatives for and by entrepreneurs, such as support organizations, bazaars, and farmers markets that were geared toward small businesses and entrepreneurs, many of them just in their first or second year of operation. In 2010, Kuwait passed its first long-term development plan in almost 25 years. The government planned to spend $104 billion over four years to diversify the economy away from oil, and to boost private sector participation in the economy. Young business people are extremely supportive of the government’s initiative and focus on SMEs.

The government of Qatar is in talks with banks about a sovereign sukuk issue, sources aware of the matter said on Monday, as the Gulf nation returns to international debt markets to shore up state finances pressured by low energy prices. Bond sales, both in international and loan markets, were identified as the way Qatar would cover its 46.5 billion riyal ($12.8 billion) 2016 deficit, and talks are underway with a small group of banks to select arrangers for the first of these deals, according to three sources with knowledge of the talks. The government may issue the dollar-denominated sukuk as soon as March or April, two of the sources added.

The fourth-quarter results of leading Saudi banks show a number of these institutions are facing a squeeze on profits as both loans and deposits decline and asset quality deteriorates further. At the close of the fourth quarter, Saudi Hollandi Bank reported a 2.3 per cent fall in fourth-quarter net profit on higher staffing costs and provisions for bad loans. Saudi British Bank (SABB), an affiliate of HSBC Holdings, posted a 3.1 per cent drop in fourth-quarter net profit and Riyad Bank posted a 19.7 per cent fall in fourth-quarter net profit, in line with analysts’ forecasts as Samba Financial Group reported flat net profit for the fourth quarter. The notable exception was Al Rajhi Bank which reported a 28.2 per cent rise in its fourth-quarter net profit.

Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Bank reported a 28.2 percent rise in its fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday, beating analyst forecasts as operating income was pushed up by higher fee income from banking services and other revenue. The kingdom's second-largest lender by assets made 1.95 billion riyals ($519.6 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, up from 1.52 billion riyals in the same period a year earlier. Samba Financial Group, the kingdom's third-largest bank by assets, reported flat net profit for the fourth quarter. It concludes a mixed earnings season for banks, with as many profit falls as rises at the kingdom's major lenders as the slump in oil prices begins to take some toll. Samba made a profit of 1.23 billion riyals in the three months to Dec. 31, the same figure it reported for the corresponding period a year earlier.

It is a common perception that the Arab world lags behind when it comes to financial inclusion. According to the 2014 Findex figures and excluding Gulf countries, the region indeed reports the highest percentage of financially excluded adults, with 80% of the population or about 200 million not having access to an account, and 95% not having access to credit. Yet, this has not always been the case. However, limited advocacy efforts concerted from within the industry as well as a lack of champions within public authorities both played a contributing factor here. Microfinance professionals can attest that 2010 marked the beginning of a new era, with positive signs of long-lasting, albeit arduous, change.

Kuwait's Boubyan Bank has received regulatory approval to issue a capital-boosting sukuk worth $250 million, the bank said in a bourse filing on Wednesday. The lender received approval from the Kuwaiti central bank to issue Basel III compliant Islamic bond that will enhance its Tier 1, or core, capital, it said. The bank will take a final decision on the sukuk and its timing after receiving all other approvals, the bank added.

Book-building process for the Omantel sukuk via private placement is currently being done. The proposed OMR50 million issuance is the country’s first multi-denominated sukuk, offered in both Omani rials and US dollars. The bankers have been holding one-on-one meetings with key investors, and said that the issuance is gathering pace amongst both Omani and international investors. The sukuk will have a tenor of 5 years and mature in 2021. The minimum subscription amount for the sukuk is OMR100,000 or $260,000. The profit rate on the sukuk will be set through a uniform price auction and will be finalised upon closing of the subscription period. Interested investors can get further information on the sukuk from the Investment Banking Division of National Bank of Oman who are acting as the issue manager and collecting bank. Subscription closes on January 26.

The emirate of Sharjah priced a $500 million five-year Islamic bond issue on Wednesday. The deal will help Sharjah narrow its budget deficit and also pave the way for other regional borrowers to complete deals after a lull of nearly three months as Gulf financial markets wobbled under pressure from increased geopolitical risk and oil prices slumping to a 12-year low. The deal was priced at a spread of 250 basis points over midswaps, the document showed, at around the same level as the initial price thoughts set on Tuesday. Adjusting for the tenor extension, the current transaction paid a new issue premium of between 35 and 40 bps, several investors and bankers said. The bond performed well in the secondary market with bid/offer quotes of 100.15-100.35.

The Emirate of Sharjah priced a $500 million five-year Islamic bond issue on Wednesday. The deal will help Sharjah narrow its budget deficit and also pave the way for other regional borrowers. In the uncertain atmosphere, the five-year sukuk drew orders north of $950 million, a comfortable amount but much smaller than the $7.85 billion the emirate attracted for a $750 million, 10-year sukuk in September 2014. The shrinking orderbook reflects foreign investors' increasing nervousness about the impact of lower crude prices on the economy and local market appetite. The deal was priced at a spread of 250 basis points over midswaps, the document showed, at around the same level as the initial price thoughts set on Tuesday.

Qatar’s QInvest has announced another year of robust growth recording its highest revenue since inception of QR393m ($108m) and net profit of QR154m ($42m). QInvest generated consistent performance throughout 2015 despite challenging global economic conditions and regional volatility, culminating in an increase in both revenues and net profit of 32 percent and 76 percent respectively. The bank recommends doubling the dividend to shareholders for financial year 2015. The team is involved in a number of buy-side and sell-side mandates across multiple industries and geographies for both family offices and institutional investors. In the real estate sector, the business is at various stages of execution and completion on income generating transactions in London, elsewhere in Western Europe and in the USA.

From Oman to Algeria, the MENA region is being hammered by low oil prices, which fell below $28 a barrel on January 18, a drop of more than 60% since June 2014. Some countries have been hurt particularly hard. In Libya, for example, the World Bank estimates that the fiscal deficit is more than 55% of GDP and the current account deficit is about 70% of GDP. In Saudi Arabia, central bank reserves have plunged from $732 billion to $623 billion in less than 12 months. Some 75% of the Saudi government’s budget comes from oil. Given the deficit, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) notes that Saudi Arabia needs to sell oil at around $106 a barrel to balance its budget. A regional country that could potentially do better in 2016 is Iran.

The conveners of the longest running Insurance platform for the Middle East – the Middle East Insurance Forum (MEIF) – announced that a report on the region’s insurance industry will be launched at MEIF 2016 that will take place on Feb. 2-3, 2016 in Bahrain. The “Finance Forward Insurance Outlook Report 2016” will be launched at the forum. The report aims to help leaders in the insurance industry make key strategic decisions and capitalize on emerging opportunities. The report states that in 2014, growth in commercial lines grew just 6.6% (compared to 19.6% for personal lines) which may account for survey respondents’ more optimistic outlook for medium-term premium growth in personal lines. Many respondents are looking into online channels, particularly for personal lines, and into expanding outreach to underinsured consumers.