Middle East Bonds

Ooredoo, the Qatar telecoms company, formerly Qtel, is roadshowing a dollar benchmark via eight banks, potentially adding to increased bond supply from the country, which already stands at seven times the full year total for 2015.

Oman has released final price guidance for its dual tranche note with order books in excess of $7bn.

Oman released initial price thoughts on Wednesday morning for new five and 10 year notes and evidence suggests the deal was building well.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) is embarking on a roadshow for a new dollar senior unsecured bond through six banks.

Bankers are growing increasingly worried about investor fatigue in the face of the huge supply of bonds from the Middle East, and some are suggesting that a switch to euros could be a remedy. Tapping the single currency could help, but it won't be a quick solution for everyone.

Issuers from the Gulf Co-operation Council region have pumped record breaking volumes of dollar bonds into the market this year already. With yields so low in euros, they are debating with bankers whether the single currency could provide a major new source of funding at a time of heightened borrowing needs.

Commercial Bank of Qatar shrugged off signs of fatigue after $24bn of GCC supply this year to print a $750m five year on Monday.

Commercial Bank of Qatar is on track to print a new five year deal as bankers question whether the market is showing signs of too much supply.

The conveyor belt of Gulf Cooperation Council sovereign issuers shows no sign of slowing, with the Sultanate of Oman finally setting off on its roadshow this week and rumours building around the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s gargantuan new issue.

The Sultunate of Oman is starting the roadshow for its dollar benchmark 144A/Reg S bond on Thursday.

Qatar made history on Wednesday by printing the largest ever bond from a CEEMEA borrower. The triple tranche $9bn trade surpassed size expectations, and while initial teething problems saw the five and 10 year tranches soften in secondaries, rival bankers deemed the pricing a triumph.

Middle East bond markets are red hot with $24bn of deals printed so far in 2016 — the highest ever year to date level. However, while Qatar's triple-tranche $9bn jumbo drew a book of $23bn and proved there is abundant demand for high quality GCC borrowers, signs of fatigue are starting to play out in the poor secondary trading performance of some of this week’s other new issues. Virginia Furness reports.