Middle East Bonds

The Central Bank of Bahrain has sold BD20m ($53m) of short-term sukuk al ijara with a higher subscription than last month’s issue.

Gulf Finance House is planning to end a seven year sukuk absence with a $200m transaction which should pique the interest of high yield accounts and hedge funds, said one investor in London.

Using ijara sukuk and a highly reputed Shariah scholar can push up a sukuk issuers’ share price, according to a paper published by the International Monetary Fund paper published on Monday. Despite the high price commanded by top scholars, the study indicates that the premium issuers pay for their reputation is worthwhile. And despite the popularity of musharaka and mudaraba structures, equity investors are far happier to see a company issue ijara.

Natural gas company Dana Gas is hoping improvements in money collection and receivables will convince more holders of its convertible sukuk to exchange their bonds for equity. The company’s share price has fallen and yields on its sukuk risen in recent weeks as fighting between Islamic militants and Kurdish forces has intensified. But a better outlook from its Egyptian operations and a ruling from a London court ordering the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq to resume payments should help reassure investors, the company said.

Jordan has introduced specific regulations for sukuk issuance two years after the country’s parliament first passed its sukuk law, and hopes the new rules will draw public and private sector borrowers to market

Turkey’s Doğuş group has approval from the country’s capital markets board for a $370m debut sukuk, taking it another step closer to launching the first ever dollar sukuk from a Turkish corporation. The country has a limited Islamic investor base, but the deal should also attract healthy support from conventional accounts, said debt bankers.

Islamic bankers don’t need new excuses to travel to the world’s sunnier climes, but meetings in Mauritius next to its pristine coral sand beaches could soon become a feature of the market — and not just for obvious reasons.

Islamic bankers don’t need new excuses to travel to the world’s sunnier climes, but meetings in Mauritius next to its pristine coral sand beaches could soon become a feature of the market – and not just for obvious reasons.

The Central Bank of Bahrain has sold BD36m ($95.4m) of its monthly sukuk salam with fewer orders than last month’s issue.

Luxembourg’s KBL Bankers returned as a primary dealer for the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp’s seventh sukuk, as the company reissued its rolling $860m of three-month commercial paper on Thursday.

Luxembourg’s decision to issue its debut sukuk in euros seems to defy common sense, since it will be selling into a Gulf-dominated market where most investors are fixated on dollars. But the grand duchy is right to stick with the currency and sukuk market participants should welcome this unusual choice.

Turkey’s Alternatifbank opened books on a $250m five year bond on Tuesday. The starting spread offered what bankers away from the deal saw as a fair pick-up over Commercial Bank of Qatar, which is guaranteeing the notes.