IslamicFinance.de

The lowest relative yields on Islamic bonds in more than two years may encourage issuers to tap the market after a 15 percent drop in new sales in 2010, helping revive interest among investors.
Albaraka Banking Group BSC plans to sell Islamic bonds in the first quarter, while Albaraka Turk Katilim Bankasi AS, a Turkish Islamic bank, may make an offering this year.

Albaraka Banking Group BSC, the biggest publicly traded Islamic lender in Bahrain, expects to complete an acquisition in Indonesia in the first quarter of 2011 as part of an expansion.
The bank has identified targets for the planned transaction in the Asian country. Albaraka has also identified an acquisition target in Malaysia.
Albaraka this year acquired Pakistan’s Emirates Global Islamic Bank Ltd., which boosted its network in the country to about 90 branches. It also began operations in Syria this year.
The Manama-based bank has received approval to set up a representative office in Libya to benefit from the country’s strong trade ties with other markets where the bank operates, such as Egypt, Turkey, Algeria and Jordan.
The bank expects total loans to increase 20 percent in 2010.