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Dubai Islamic Bank is likely to issue a benchmark-sized Islamic bond on Wednesday after receiving orders in excess of $10 billion. Dubai Islamic Bank perpetual sukuk may yield 7% annually.

The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) announced on February 13 that the Islamic financial services segment grew 12.6% in 2012. Total assets reached TL1.3bn ($0.72bn), driven largely by growth in the second half of the year, according to Mükim Öztekin, president of the BDDK. Expansion was due to a change in the perceived level of risk in the country, he added, together with an acceleration of capital inflow, decreasing interest rates and the overall economic growth trend. According to BDDK, sector profits hit TL23.6bn ($13.10bn) in 2012, up 19.2% on the TL3.8bn ($2.11bn) posted the previous year. Equity capital, meanwhile, increased by 26% to reach TL182bn ($101.13bn). While conventional banking assets and profits are growing at a steady pace, the Islamic finance segment has been earmarked as the industry’s next big growth story.

Qatar International Islamic Bank reported that shareholders had given approval for the nonconvertible Sukuk Issuance Programme up to $2 billion. QIIB Chief Executive Officer Abdulbasit Ahmed Al Shaibe said that the bank has not yet decided when to go for the issuance. It depended on international market conditions, he added.

The Shura Council approved the sukuk draft law during its general session on Monday. The final draft law consists of the council’s economic and financial committee proposal, the government’s proposal and the Shura Council’s joint committee proposal. The Shura Council modified 13 articles in the draft law. The final report from the committee mentioned that there are some items that have been further developed and modified. Its adjudication will be enforceable and binding on administrative authorities after approval by the Egyptian Cabinet.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has listed its planned $1 billion sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai. The sukuk has raised more than expected, with WAM claiming regional and global investors had reacted positively, leading to an increase in the value of sukuk listed on Nasdaq to $6.24 billion, while the value of sukuk listed in Dubai bourses rose to $10.173 billion. The state utility, rated BBB, had sought a profit of about 3 percent. The proceeds from the five-year deal will be used to refinance existing maturities as well as for new projects. Standard Chartered, Citigroup, RBS and local lenders Emirates NBD, Dubai Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank are mandated joint book runners on the deal.

Dubai's Nakheel announced that it issued a USD32.66 million sukuk as part of its restructuring plan. This is the property developer's fourth issuance which brings the total amount issued by the firm to USD1.16 billion. Since November 2009, Nakheel has paid nearly USD2.72 billion to different trade creditors and contractors. Nakheel's first tranche was issued in August 2011, and in January, the company issued a sukuk worth USD32.93 million. Nakheel is going through a USD16 billion restructuring plan.

According to a report released by Standard & Poor’s (S&P), the sukuk market can expect another few strong years after global issuance of sukuk expanded for the fourth year in a row in 2012. The report “Investors Are Snapping Up Sukuk, Despite Questions About Creditworthiness” points out that there is little to hinder another strong performance by the sukuk market in the next few years. The sukuk market is believed to have the potential to grow and join the mainstream. New sukuk issuance worldwide is expected to exceed $100 billion again this year. However, yields in the region have been declining, and even fell under those on conventional debt.

Turkish Islamic lender Bank Asya said on Monday it had mandated banks for a subordinated sukuk issue worth up to $300 million with a ten-year maturity. The lender made the statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange. Strong investor demand and a need to improve capital adequacy ratios are causing Turkey's Islamic banks to consider issuing subordinated sukuk.

Qatar will sell QR4bn ($1.1bn) of three-year and five-year bonds and sukuk. The Qatar Central Bank will offer local banks QR3bn worth of bonds and QR1bn worth of Shariah-compliant notes. The local currency issues will take place quarterly, but it was not specified how much of each maturity would be sold. The objective behind an issuance is reportedly to build a domestic sovereign yield curve.

Albaraka Turk mandated four banks to secure a $200 million subordinated loan from international sukuk markets. Albaraka Turk is the Turkish subsidiary of Bahraini lender Al Baraka Bank.

Falcon Private Bank is planning to launch a fund early next month that will invest in global sukuk.The fund will be offered to the bank’s clients and could grow to $500 million, according to Zafar Khan, Falcon’s Mena chief executive. There is alreade substantial demand from the bank's clients for global sukuk investments, he added. He also considers the yields of the past two years dislocated and the current yields more realistic to the underlying risk.

Indonesia’s finance ministry raised Rp 760 billion ($78.30 million) at its March 5 sukuk auction, well below the target of Rp 1.5 trillion. The Finance Ministry sold 6-month, 9- and 14-year sukuk to help finance its budget deficit. Incoming bids were Rp 3.4 trillion. The G20 economy plans to raise Rp 57.5 trillion in the first quarter of the year.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) plans to boost its capital through the sale of a sharia-compliant debt instrument. DIB will hold investor meetings in Asia, the Middle East and Europe starting on March 7 ahead of issuing the dollar-denominated, benchmark-sized hybrid sukuk, subject to market conditions. The bank hopes to raise at least $500 million from the sale, but the final size will depend on demand. Emirates NBD, HSBC Holdings, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Standard Chartered and the bank itself were chosen to arrange the deal.

Dubai Islamic Bank plans to boost its capital through a sharia-compliant debt instrument. Therefore, the bank will hold investor meetings in Asia, Middle East and Europe starting March 7 ahead of issuing the dollar-denominated, benchmark-sized hybrid sukuk, subject to market conditions. Benchmark-size is understood to be at least $500 million. The potential sale will be arranged by Emirates NBD , HSBC Holdings, National Bank of Abu Dhabi , Standard Chartered and the bank itself.

Saudi Almarai Co picks NCB Capital to arrange local currency sukuk. The dairy group Almarai is going to hold meetings with the Saudi investors over next two weeks.

A new initiative to transform Dubai into a global hub for sukuks is aimed at positioning the UAE as a top-ranked economy in the world, according to His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Dubai is planning to achieve its goal through a series of initiatives and programmes which in turn will activate the role of Islamic economy in the economy. Moreover, the necessary organisational framework will be completed and national cadres and experts mobilised to give this sector the anticipated momentum.

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority has given initial profit guidance of low 3% on its prospective five year benchmark sukuk. The dollar denominated ijara (asset leasing) deal, which could be as large as $1bn, is set to be priced this week.

State-owned Export-Import Bank of Malaysia (Exim Bank) plans to sell Islamic bonds in the global market. They invited proposals from banks to arrange US$1bil (RM3.1bil) of dollar-denominated debt for a possible second-quarter offering. The lender aimed to increase the proportion of syariah loans to 30% of the total in two years from 20% now, chief executive officer Adissadikin Ali said. Exim Bank will become only the fourth Asian corporate to ever tap dollar sukuk investors.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority plans to issue sukuk of at least US$500m this week, after releasing early price guidance for the deal on Tuesday. DEWA is aiming to sell the dollar-denominated sukuk at a profit rate in the low 3 percent area. The sukuk is widely expected to attract strong investor demand. Standard Chartered, Citigroup, RBS and local lenders Emirates NBD, Dubai Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank are mandated joint bookrunners on the deal.

The Egyptian government reportedly plans to raise up to $1bn by June through sukuk sales, with one for domestic investors and one for foreign investors. The cabinet has finished a draft law to pave the way for the issuance, which would be debated in parliament this week. The Egyptian sukuk is expected to trade with a yield of 6 to 6.5 per cent, however, the market conditions between now and the eventual issuance could change significantly. Moreover, any issuance in unlikely prior to the settlement of a deal with the IMF on the stalled $4.8bn loan package. Negotiations with the IMF will re-open in early March.