Middle East Bonds

International sukuk issuance is on the cusp of a record year, and so far in 2014 has made up the largest proportion of total sukuk supply since 2007, according to IFIS data.

DIFC Investments built an orderbook of over $3bn for a $700m 10 year sukuk that it priced on Tuesday. UAE buyers short of fresh paper — and sukuk in particular — took the bulk of the deal, which pulled other Dubai sukuk tighter in its wake.

DIFC Investments has squeezed the pricing on its offering of a 10 year benchmark dollar sukuk, tightening the spread range for a second time to 185bp-190bp over mid-swaps at final guidance. DIFCI expects to price the Reg S sukuk within that range.

DIFC Investments built an orderbook of over $3bn for a $700m 10 year sukuk that it priced on Tuesday. UAE buyers short of fresh paper — and sukuk in particular — took the bulk of the deal, which pulled other Dubai sukuk tighter in its wake.

DIFC Investments opened books for a 10 year benchmark sukuk issue on Monday morning, with pricing scheduled for later this week. Investors predicted the deal would be priced slightly inside the curve of Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority. But the DIFCI leads have already boldly set the starting spread inside Jafza's sukuk curve.

DIFC Investments opened books for a 10 year benchmark sukuk issue on Monday morning, with pricing scheduled for later this week. Investors predicted the deal would be priced slightly inside the curve of Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority. But the DIFCI leads have already boldly set the starting spread inside Jafza's sukuk curve.

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat has picked banks for a sukuk sale. The borrower has set up a new programme allowing conventional and Islamic issuance, and will use the proceeds to repay upcoming maturities.

Bank Muscat is planning the first sukuk ever from an Omani lender, and will issue more than one deal next year, an official at the bank told IFIS.

Low cost Malaysia airline AirAsia is setting up a mudaraba sukuk programme and plans to launch a subordinated perpetual deal.

Israel Electric has mandated Barclays and Citi to arrange a dollar bond. Investor meetings are taking place in Europe and the US on Monday and Tuesday.

The Bank of England (BoE) will begin work next year on how to provide Islamic banks with Shariah compliant liquidity facilities. Even without knowing what rates or requirements the prospective facilities will involve, the UK’s Islamic lenders — long starved of Shariah compliant liquid assets — say anything will be better than holding cash.

UK Export Finance (UKEF) — the UK’s export credit agency — is working on a guarantee structure for a sukuk sale. The deal is likely to appear early next year and could be the sukuk market’s first export credit backed aviation deal, although other aviation lenders are considering their own deals, said bankers.