IslamicFinance.de

AirAsia X Sdn Bhd will put off a US$200 million Islamic bond issue planned for March by at least 12 months after the airline abandoned routes from Kuala Lumpur to London, Paris, Mumbai and New Delhi.
AirAsia X announced Jan. 12 that it was cutting its flights to Europe, justifying the cost of complying with the European Union’s emissions trading system and rising taxes.

Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB) has successfully ended the issuance of $500 million sukuk certificates, maturing in 2017 off their $1,000 million Trust Certificate Issuance Programme. The programme is guaranteed by Emirates NBD rated A3 by Moody's and A+ by Fitch.
Joint lead managers and bookrunners on the transactionwere following banks: Citigroup, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC Bank Plc, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Royal Bank of Scotland Plc and Standard Chartered Bank. The transaction structure was a Sukuk Al Musharaka based on Sharikat Al Melk (Co-ownership), with the certificates remaining a senior obligation of EIB.

According to HSBC Holdings Plc, sales of Islamic bonds may rise to US$44 billion this year as request outstrips supply and as Asian and Middle East investors tap the market complying with Islamic banking rulings. Companies and governments are tapping the Islamic bond market as borrowing costs decline amid rising investor demand.
Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC and First Gulf Bank PJSC of Abu Dhabi raised US$500 million each from sukuk sales.
Shariah-compliant bonds won 7.2% last year, according to the HSBC/Nasdaq Dubai US Dollar Sukuk Index, while debt in developing markets rose 8.5%, shows JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s EMBI Global Composite Index .

The primary market recorded a year-on-year increase of 0.7 percent in December, despite the fact that it was a quiet month for issuances outside of Malaysia.
The largest issuance for the month was the third issuance of the year for Pakistan Domestic Sukuk Company Limited which launches on behalf of the government. The $781.1 million Sukuk Ijarah was structured with a three-year tenure.
A burst of Sukuk issues from the Persian Gulf shows borrowers are worried about limited global liquidity and future access to debt markets, and are turning to Islamic finance as a source of money that is rather untouched by the global turmoil.

Infrastructure sukuk has received a major boost after Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama Berhad (PLUS Berhad) closed a record landmark RM30.6 billion sukuk issuance program including both government guaranteed (GG) and non-government guaranteed AAA-rated (AAA) issuances of varying tenors, sizes and expected returns and yields to maturity (YTMs).
The issuance was through PLUS Malaysia Sdn Bh, which is a jointly-owned special purpose company of UEM Group Berhad and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), which was arranged to obtain the Malaysian business and undertakings including the assets and liabilities of PLUS Expressways Berhad, the major provider of expressway operation services in Malaysia, under a privatization exercise.

According to Morgan Stanley & Co., Middle East and North Africa foreign bond sales from this year will surpass last year’s $27.6 billion because borrowers need to pay loans and will increasingly choose bonds.
It seems that International bond sales from the Middle East and North Africa fell 17% in 2011 from $33.1 billion in the previous year.
Bloomberg states that borrowers in the Middle East and North Africa have gathered $1.3 billion from three issues this year, all of them sales of sukuk by financial institutions.
Tamweel PJSC raised $300 million from five-year Islamic bond Jan. 12, while Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC sold $500 million in five-year Islamic bonds Jan. 10.

Difficult funding in Europe is making Middle East issuers to tap the still-liquid Islamic finance markets for funds.
Dubai-based Emirates Islamic Bank issued a $500 million, five-year Islamic bond with a yield of 4.718%, while Abu Dhabi-based First Gulf Bank sold a $500 million, five-year sukuk with a yield of 4.046%.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation stated it plans to launch a government-guaranteed sukuk to pay for a new terminal at Jeddah airport, and Dubai-based Islamic mortgage company Tamweel announced a five-year, $300 million sukuk.
Majid Al Futtaim recently started a $1 billion Islamic bond program, while Doha Bank, Bahrain's Al Baraka Banking Group, Emirates Telecommunications Co. of the United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., among others, could all be looking to issue Islamic debt this year.

The upturn in the global Sukuk market that has been forseen for the past few years doesn't seem to happen – but for all the wrong reasons. Nowadays corporates and banks are issuing because they need the money.
Citi, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC, NBAD, RBS and Standard Chartered have all been secured in to advise on the five-year Reg S, dollar-denominated transaction, which could be priced at 350bps over midprice swaps. Fitch has given an A+ anticipated rating and Moody’s has given an A3 with negative outlook.
Bank Muamalat Indonesia is also planning to launch $140m worth of Sukuk in the first half of 2012 with both an Indonesian rupiah subordinated Sukuk and a $50m dollar-denominated senior tranche.

Middle East and Malaysia are anticipated to deliver a major spurt in global sukuk issuance in 2012 to an estimated $44 billion, up 66 % on 2011.
Mohammed Dawood, managing director of Islamic global markets, Europe, Middle East and Africa for HSBC Amanah, stated that the dramatic increase in sukuk issuance has been activated by Islamic bonds’ remarkable performance amid the global meltdown.
He added that investors favour sukuk because it has been less explosive than conventional issuances, especially in the last four months of 2011.

Dubai's Tamweel has launched a $300 million five-year sukuk.
The transaction is guaranteed by majority shareholder Dubai Islamic Bank and comes after a series of roadshows which took place before year-end. No pricing guidance was presented in the document.

Banks in the United Arab Emirates may choose to refinance more than $3 billion of bonds due this year should pricing remain at current levels, as they search to extend the average maturity of their debt.
UAE banks have about $3.49 billion of bonds and sukuk maturing in 2012, according to data gathered by Bloomberg. This data also shows that Profit at UAE banks is starting to recover from the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, which curbed lending and forced them to take provisions against some of Dubai’s government-related entities.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC sold $500 million of five-year dollar-denominated sukuk in November.

It is possible that Emirates NBD will attract funds to the emirate’s first sukuk sale by a bank since 2007, with debt priced at a 150 basis-point discount to the government’s Islamic bond.
It seems that the lender’s Sharia-compliant unit is likely to attract investors with returns as low as 275 basis points above midswaps, or about 4 %.

HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd wants to present an innovative sukuk this year for retail investors to maintain HSBC's position as a leading sukuk house.
Rafe Haneef, chief executive officer, stated that a launch of a retail bond product is needed so that the retail investors can share the sukuk pie.
According to Rafe, the bank has almost completed its retail and corporate propositions and has also renewed its leasing products, which are world-class now.

Abu Dhabi's First Gulf Bank (FGB) has chosen four banks for a five-year benchmark-sized Islamic bond: Citi, HSBC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered.
The timeframe for sukuk hasn't been decided yet.
Emirates Islamic Bank, is anticipated to print the first debt deal out of the Gulf, having launched price talk for a five-year, benchmark-sized sukuk.

Four banks were chosen by Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Holding to manage its first Islamic bond issuance programme. The four banks are: Dubai Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered.
The proceeds are anticipated to fund expansion plans worth $2bn for malls and shopping centres in Lebanon, Egypt and Syria, alongside plans for a hypermarket in Erbil, Kurdistan.

Emirates Islamic Bank has agreed upon an initial price whisper in the area of 350 basis points over midswaps for its five-year sukuk.
The potential sharia-compliant transaction is being launched by Emirates Islamic Bank but is backed by its parent company ENBD.
Lead managers on the EIB deal are the following banks: National Bank of Abu Dhabi, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citi, RBS and ENBD Capital.

The postponement of the proposed sukuk offerings of two of Turkey's participation banks, Al Baraka Turk Katilim Bankasi and Bank Asya, showes how the dynamics of the global financial crisis, especially the on-going euro zone debt crisis and the credit crunch, are having a negative affect on more stable economies in the emerging countries.
Both banks were supposed to close their sukuk offerings by the end of 2012.
An ATPB source stated that if the market conditions are right, they may re-announce the (sukuk) transaction within this month (January 2012), probably in 2 weeks time.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citi, RBS and ENBD Capital were chosen by Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB) for a potential benchmark-sized dollar sukuk. EIB will began the investor meetings in Malaysia on January 5.

Developer Nakheel has negotiated contractor demand worth Dh1 billion so far and hopes to launch the second tranche of its Islamic bond within the next six months. This statement came from Ali Rashid Lootah, its chairman.

Following the failure of the company to supply details on how it plans to repay $1 billion of sukuk maturing in October, Dana Gas Islamic bonds surged to a record.
Dana Gas shares fell 2.2 per cent, the most in more than a week.
It seems that the company's board considered updates on its stake in Mol Nyrt as well as on financing projects in Egypt and the UAE.