IslamicFinance.de

The net profit of the shareholders of Damaan Islamic Insurance’s (Beema) touched QR63m for the full-year 2015. Abdullatif Abdulla Zaid Al Mahmoud, the Deputy Chairman of the company, said Beema has achieved a gross contribution of QR314m in the year 2015; a 23 percent increase on year-on-year; and a surplus of QR16.5m from insurance operations, up 114 percent compared to the year 2014. The shareholders profit increased 17 percent to QR46.5m. The investment portfolio achieved an income of QR19.2m during the year 2015. The financial results were announced after the company’s board of directors’ meeting yesterday.

Vice Chairman at Kuwait Finance House (KFH), Abdulaziz Yaqoub Al-Nafisi stressed the importance of international investment and creating further integration in KFH-Group banks in the framework of the coordination that targets boosting development according to a unified vision that prioritizes development and recognizes the value of public-private partnerships and international investment, yet contributes in diversifying non-oil sectors to boost the economy. On the sideline of his participation in the inauguration ceremony of Marassi Al Bahrain project, Al-Nafisi praised the project that was a joint effort between the real estate investment and development company, Eagle Hills, in partnership with Diyar Al Muharraq. He went on to say that the project will provide steady flow of income for investors and will comprise a major destination for tourists in Bahrain.

Governments in the wealthy Gulf Arab oil exporting countries look set to borrow from the international bond market at a record pace this year, putting fresh pressure on bond prices, as they cover budget deficits created by low oil prices. For the first 18 months after oil began tumbling in mid-2014, governments largely held off from borrowing abroad, preferring to draw down their fiscal reserves and in some cases borrow domestically. That strategy is reaching its limits as the drawdown begins to alarm financial markets and push up local market interest rates. So governments in the six-nation GCC will turn to the foreign debt market to help cover deficits which are expected this year to near $140 billion, or 11 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said that overall sovereign creditworthiness in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region has deteriorated since Standard & Poor’s last published six months ago. The rating agency has published the report Middle East And North Africa Sovereign Rating Trends 2016. The average rating for the hydrocarbon-endowed sovereigns of Abu Dhabi, Bahrain , Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, is currently close to ‘A’, having been at ‘A+’ prior to the downgrade of Saudi Arabia and the inclusion of Iraq in the average. For those with more limited hydrocarbon resources (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Ras Al Khaimah, and Sharjah), it is closer to ‘BB+’. The outlooks are negative on Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, reflecting weakening fiscal profiles and uncertain policy responses.

The emirate of Sharjah is targeting a five-year sukuk offering and could launch a transaction as early as this week, a document from lead arrangers showed on Tuesday. The sovereign finished roadshows on Monday in London, following investor meetings in the Middle East and Asia last week, and was now in the process of receiving feedback from the market, the document added. The emirate mandated Bank Of Sharjah, Barclays, Commerzbank, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC and Sharjah Islamic Bank to arrange the meetings and the possible transaction. Sharjah was reported to be planning to raise funds through a dollar-denominated sukuk of benchmark size, in what could be the first sovereign Islamic bond issuance from the region this year.

Emirates Islamic has announced its full-year financial results for 2015, with the bank reporting strong growth for the fourth consecutive year. For the twelve months ending December 31, 2015, the bank reported a net profit of AED 641 million, a 76 per cent year-on-year increase. The bank's total net income (net of customers' share of profit) during the period rose to AED 2.43 billion, up 25 percent compared to AED 1.95 billion in 2014. The bank recently launched the ISLAMIC BANKING INDEX by EMIRATES ISLAMIC™, a consumer focused survey on Islamic Banking in the UAE. In addition, Emirates Islamic introduced EI Trade, a customised Shari'a-compliant online trade and supply chain platform for its business and corporate customers.

Arcapita has partnered with Morningstar Senior Living for senior living communities based in Colorado worth $85 million. The current portfolio for Arcapita consists of three projects for assisted living and care communities and provides a total of 196 units and 243 licensed beds in the Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado. The focus on the state is to attract customers who are in the company’s target age demographic. The target age group for senior living facilities in Colorado is projected to grow by almost twice the national average over the next five years, stated Martin Tan, Arcapita’s chief investment officer.

Bahrain-based Ibdar Bank has announced the successful exit from four Bahrain-based real estate investments for a total value of USD 21.67 million. The first two exits consist of the sale of two 11-story buildings acquired by the Bank for total consideration of USD12.07 million. The first is a 64-apartment fully furnished building located in Manama and the other consists of 38-fully furnished apartments in Busaiteen. The other two exits consist of the sale of the Bank's affiliate company's 11-story and 10-story properties located in the popular Juffair area. The properties consist of 83 fully furnished apartments in total and supporting convenience, leisure and parking facilities, which were sold for a total consideration of USD9.6 million.

Despite prominence in economic activity, SMEs face a funding challenge. November 2014 figures from Souqalmal.com showed that a mere 28% of respondents had resorted to bank financing, while a full 31% were self-funded. This is a gap that Islamic finance offerings can address. Despite this obvious synergy, Islamic finance is still gearing up to effectively service SME needs regionally. The first challenge is one of volume: there are simply not enough Shariah-compliant banks around. This has a chilling effect on SME financing, particularly in those countries where local SMEs won't consider non-Islamic finance. However, the picture is changing for the better as Islamic finance becomes mainstream and is supported by better regulation.

Hawkamah, the Institute for Corporate Governance at the Dubai International Financial Centre and the first centre specialised in Governance in the GCC, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Over the last decade, Hawkamah has offered advisory services and courses across the Middle East and North Africa region. The Centre is marking its 10th anniversary with the launch of several new strategic initiatives. One of Hawkamah’s milestones in the first quarter of 2016 will be the graduation of the first intake of the Women Directors’ Program, in collaboration with Dubai Women Establishment. The institute will also launch the Arabic version of its flagship ‘Director Development Program’, the DDP. The aim of the programme is to build an understanding of corporate governance and increase the capacity of business leaders.

For the third year running, DP World is the top stock in the S&P/Hawkamah Pan Arab ESG Index. The index is the first of its kind in the Arab world and ranks the transparency and disclosure of regional listed companies based on Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) metrics. The participants are derived from the top 150 Pan Arab companies, by total market capitalisation, listed on stock markets of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabic, Tunisia and the UAE. The index is reconstituted once a year in December and the names of the top 10 companies are announced. It gathers information in the public domain, mainly from Annual Report and Accounts, to assess the leading company.

Abu Dhabi's government-owned Al Hilal Bank has closed a $175 million Islamic loan transaction with three banks, sources aware of the matter said on Thursday. The loan has a life span of two years. The transaction was arranged by Commerzbank, Emirates NBD and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, they added. Al Hilal Bank's spokesman declined to comment. The sharia-compliant lender is one of a number of Gulf-based banks seeking funds to help ease a squeeze on liquidity caused by lower oil prices. The sources on Thursday declined to give the pricing of the loan, although bankers said in November that Al Hilal Bank was marketing the loan with all-in pricing of 150 basis points over the London interbank offered rate (Libor).

Saudi Arabia plans to set up a sovereign wealth fund to manage part of its oil fortune and diversify its investments. The nation is seeking proposals from investment banks and consultants. The sovereign wealth fund is said to be focusing on businesses outside the energy industry and may be active within one to two years with an office in New York. Saudi Arabia is trying to manage declining oil prices and rising tensions among countries in the Middle East including Iran. Saudi Arabia’s net foreign assets dropped to US$640 billion (RM1.97 trillion) in October, the lowest level in three years, as the oil rout strains government finances in the biggest Arab economy.

Looking to 2016 and beyond, innovation will continue to be critical for the ongoing development of the Islamic finance industry. For instance, efficiency can still be improved as Sharia-compliant institutions still lag behind their conventional counterparts, and are increasingly looking to embrace technological innovation in order to minimise operational costs as well as project a modern face of banking that would appeal to a younger generation of customers, which will be critical for ongoing growth. Another area of development is the Islamic asset management sector, as the range of services available remains quite limited and there is a general lack of quality products in this space.

On Oct. 30, 2015, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its unsolicited long- and short-term foreign- and local-currency sovereign credit ratings on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to 'A+/A-1' from 'AA-/A-1+'. The outlook remains negative. At the same time, S&P revised its transfer and convertibility (T&C) assessment on Saudi Arabia to 'AA-' from 'AA'. Standard & Poor's has converted its sovereign credit ratings on Saudi Arabia to "unsolicited" following Saudi Arabia's decision to terminate its rating agreement. A pronounced negative swing in Saudi Arabia's fiscal balance has prompted our downgrade. The kingdom has run fiscal surpluses over the 10 years to 2013 (averaging 13% of GDP).

The 18th Microcredit Summit, “Frontier Innovations in Financial Inclusion” will be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on March 15-17, 2016. The objective of the event is to provide a platform for participants to discuss financial inclusion policies, regulatory frameworks, resilience and empowerment solutions, microfinance products, and synergies with the aim of promoting social inclusion for all. The conference will address themes: (1) “National Financial Inclusion Strategies;” (2) “Pathways to Social & Financial Inclusion;” and (3) “Partnerships that Build Bridges to New Frontiers.” Additional information is available on the event website http://18microcreditsummit.org/.

Saudi Arabia is considering offering shares in the largest oil company in the world, Saudi Aramco, in an initial public offering (IPO) which may mean that assets of about 3.63 trillion US dollars will be accessible to citizens and investors. Saudi Aramco yesterday confirmed that it had been considering various options to provide the opportunity to a large segment of investors via an IPO in the finance market. The company said in a statement that it is studying two scenarios to present its shares for an IPO; the first is to sell an appropriate share of its assets directly, and the second is to offer a package of major projects for the IPO in several sectors, particularly the refining and chemicals sector. In addition to this, Aramco could sell about 5% of its assets which amounts to about 181.5 billion dollars in the stock market.

The Saudi insurance sector will grow by up to 17 per cent a year over the next five years thanks to regulation enforcement and growth in motor insurance, the Dubai-based investment bank Arqaam Capital said yesterday. Arquaam expects the Saudi insurance sector to be the least affected by weaker oil prices, budget cuts and the tightening liquidity as the enforcement of existing regulations will propel motor and medical premiums growth at a rate of 15-25 per cent and 14-16 per cent respectively. According to an Alpen Capital report released last year, the Saudi central bank has issued several new regulations regarding underwriting practices, reserving, actuarial-backed pricing and solvency requirements in the past two years, to help grow the industry.

The emirate of Sharjah has picked six banks to arrange investor meetings starting next week ahead of a potential dollar-denominated sukuk issue, a document from lead arrangers showed on Wednesday. The sovereign has mandated Bank Of Sharjah, Barclays, Commerzbank, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC and Sharjah Islamic Bank to arrange the transaction. Investor meetings will be held starting Sunday in the Middle East, Asia and the United Kingdom and a deal will follow subject to market conditions, the document added.

Kuwait's Warba Bank has announced the acquisition of equipment leasing portfolio managed by ATEL Capital Group, an independent equipment lessor based in the United States of America. As part of the transaction, the Bank has initially invested US$8.2 million in a diversified portfolio of Operating leases comprising of high-quality low-tech low-obsolescence mission-critical equipment leased to investment grade corporations in United States. Established in San Francisco, California, in 1977, ATEL has originated and managed over $2 billion of equipment leased to primarily investment grade US corporations. Over the last three decades, ATEL has built a reputation as one of the largest independent equipment leasing enterprises in the United States.