IslamicFinance.de

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

Gulf Finance House (GFH), the Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank, yesterday held the first meeting of its new board members following their election earlier this month. The eight-member board includes Dr Ahmed Khalil Al Mutawa (chairman), Musabah Saif Al Mutairy (vice-chairman) Faisal Abdulla Fouad Abubshait, Bashar Mohammed Almutawa, Yousef Ibrahim Al Ghanim, Dr Khalid Mohammed Al Khazraji, Shaikh Mohamed Daij Al Khalifa and Mohamed Ali Talib.

Ajman Bank has signed a strategic alliance with Al Ramz Capital, aiming to provide Ajman Bank customers with the services to trade in the UAE's stock market. The alliance has been officially signed by Mr. Mohamed Abdulrahman Amiri, Ajman Bank 's CEO and Mr. Mohammad Murtada Al Dandashi, Partner and Managing Director, Al Ramz Capital. Ajman Bank has launched a share finance product to invest in the UAE's financial markets based on Murabah. This product will double the investors purchasing power in the financial market by offering finance amount equivalent to the market value of the client's stock portfolio. Customers will be also able to trade with their own shares in addition to the finance provided by the bank.

Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), the multilateral development bank of the 10 member states of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), has closed a five-year SR1 billion ($267 million) bilateral Shari’ah-compliant facility with Al Rajhi Bank. The facility is aimed at retaining and increasing APICORP’s medium-term funding. Al Rajhi Bank was the sole Murabaha Facility Arranger, Lender and Agent. APICORP enjoys a foreign currency issuer rating of Aa3 for long-term debt and Prime-1 for its short-term debt with stable outlook from Moody’s Investors Service. Al Rajhi Bank is the largest retail bank in KSA with total assets of SR279 billion ($74.4 billion).

The CEO of Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the Gulf country’s largest Islamic lender, has reportedly stepped down, according to two company sources. Mohammed al-Omar’s resignation as CEO is linked to wider management changes at KFH, one of the sources said.

Saudi Arabia's national home finance company, Bidaya, may open its doors by the end of this year. In development since 2010, the company is a venture between the finance ministry's Public Investment Fund and the Jeddah-based Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). Bidaya is in its last phase of development prior to launch and will submit an application for a licence as soon as regulations under the kingdom's mortgage laws are finalised. The "target size" of its paid-up capital will reportedly be 900 million riyals ($240 million). Bidaya will increase access to finance for middle-income home buyers across the Kingdom and thus, raise low levels of home ownership in the country.

Big Arab banks with money to spend are expanding across the Middle East in markets such as Egypt and Iraq, as they take advantage of a retreat from some areas by major international rivals. Since 2011, some global banks have downsized some of their businesses in the region to cut costs, help shore up capital and focus on their core markets, while competition from local banks has intensified. Meanwhile, UAE and Qatari banks have led the way in making some sizeable acquisitions and increasing their stakes in other lenders. In Egypt for example, Gulf banks are eyeing acquisitions because there is a lot of potential.

A meeting of the 58th session of the Permanent Council of the Islamic Solidarity Fund of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation reviewed the current financial situation of the Fund and the projects it is executing for member states and Muslim communities in non-OIC member states. OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani called for the mobilization of support for the ISF to overcome the limitation of resources in the face of growing needs, adding that many humanitarian issues were awaiting the attention of the Fund. He called for the establishment of a work group to identify projects for the ISF and unify efforts. The ISF has so far built 2,418 projects at a cost of $207 million in 130 countries throughout the world.

Dubai tapped capital markets for the first time in more than a year with the sale of $750 million of 15-year Islamic bonds as the emirate seeks to pay debt and finance its budget amid a property-market recovery. The Dubai government’s securities will reportedly price to yield 5 percent. The price Dubai paid for the sukuk indicates a significant improvement in the credit quality. The sale comes after Abu Dhabi agreed last month to roll over $20 billion of debt for five years, helping push Dubai’s credit risk to 165 basis points on April 4. Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC (DIB), Emirates NBD Capital Ltd., HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC and Standard Chartered Plc managed the sale.

The Deloitte Islamic Finance Knowledge Center (IFKC) in the Middle East and the Islamic Research & Training Institute (IRTI) held on March 27, 2014 the "Restructuring Sukuk- the Islamic Way" workshop in Dubai, the first of a series of executive workshops targeting industry practitioners, investors and issuers. The event tackled the Sukuk market trends and the key Sharia' and regulatory considerations for restructuring activities. The participants discussed actual restructuring case studies with analysis of risks associated with transactions and lessons learned. The event also provided practitioners the opportunity to hear different perspectives in discussions facilitated by leaders from Deloitte, DFSA , IDB Group , Islamic International Rating Agency, FWU Global Takaful, and Clifford Chance .

The Bahrain-based International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) will develop its first standard contract template for sukuk, and aims to double the number of its standards as early as next year. A standard for leasing-based sukuk will be developed first by the IIFM to help harmonise industry practices, said chief executive Ijlal Ahmad Alvi. The move comes after a consultation meeting in Dubai this week which identified a need for guidelines covering the ijara sukuk structure as a priority. A work group will also study other common sukuk structures such as mudaraba, wakala and musharaka, as well as convertible and exchangeable sukuk. The ijara sukuk standard could be ready by the end of this year at the earliest.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) reported a 13 per cent rise in first quarter net profit which rose to 26.06 million dinars ($92.54 million) from 23.0 million dinars in the same period a year ago. Revenues were 1 per cent higher at 224.4 million dinars. Five analysts in a Reuters poll had estimated an average net profit of 32.76 million dinars for the quarter. KFH’s total assets were 17.3 billion dinars at the end of the first quarter, an increase of 16 percent compared to the same time last year while deposits rose 7 per cent to 636 million dinars. Shares in the company closed at 0.85 dinars on Thursday on the Kuwaiti stock market, which reopens on Sunday. Chairman Hamad al-Marzouq said KFH wanted to expand in Turkey and adjacent countries’ markets, without giving details.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has affirmed at 'BBB' its insurer financial strength and counterparty credit ratings on Saudi Arabia-based Weqaya Takaful Insurance and Reinsurance Co. (Weqaya) but the outlook is negative. The affirmation reflects S&P’s view that despite a comprehensive net loss of Saudi Arabian riyal (SAR) 90.7 million ($24.2 million) for 2013 Weqaya's new senior management is taking appropriate remedial action. Consequently, policyholder confidence will be maintained and Weqaya will continue to enjoy both a satisfactory business risk profile, and at least a lower adequate financial risk profile. The negative outlook reflects S&P's belief that senior management at Weqaya must continue to work quickly and effectively to reinforce capital and earnings.

Al Rajhi Bankk is losing ground to peers in Saudi Arabia, its home market, as slowing credit growth and intensifying competition for retail customers weigh on earnings. The world’s biggest Islamic bank said this week that first-quarter profit fell 17% from a year earlier, its third quarter of declining earnings. Lending growth in the three months slowed to 7% from 19% in the same period of 2013. That compares with 30% for Bank Albilad and 11% for Samba Financial Group. Profit at the Riyadh-based bank is slowing even as the Saudi economy is poised to grow 4.2% this year, because rival banks are increasingly turning their attention to retail customers as new labour laws stifle construction projects. Construction lending accounted for 7.7% of total bank loans in 2013.