Middle East Bonds

The Kingdom of Bahrain was on track to price the first dollar bond from the country this year on Tuesday, having released initial price thoughts for a 30 year bullet bond on Tuesday at low 6%.

Emirates NBD announced on Tuesday a new tier one perpetual offering. However, the bond will not be Basel III compliant and therefore will not have a point of non-viability (PONV) feature.

The Emirate of Sharjah opened books on a 10 year debut sukuk on Tuesday morning with the aim of pricing a benchmark deal on Wednesday. Some investors are expecting the issuer to price back of main comparable Ras Al-Khaimah (RAK), but Sharjah’s superior credit quality means a premium over RAK may not be necessary, said a debt banker on the deal.

Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has picked lead managers for its next sukuk deal and will finish investor meetings on September 17 — giving the market all the mandates it needs for September to smash the previous record for monthly sukuk sales.

Advanced Petrochemical Co (Advanced) will ask shareholders for approval to sell sukuk, as the company considers its first debt sale ever in the capital markets.

Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has picked lead managers for its next sukuk deal and will finish investor meetings on September 17 — giving the market all the mandates it needs for September to smash the previous record for monthly sukuk sales.

Corporate and infrastructure sukuk issuance is set to rise in the years to come after a disappointing dip in 2014, according to Standard & Poor’s analysts. Low cost bank loans and conventional structures have eaten into sukuk sales, but supply should still rise in the years ahead, the rating agency said.

Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) Dubai Branch stuck to its rumoured pricing target of 3.5% for its debut offshore renminbi bond on Wednesday night, in spite of having appeared to rein in its ambitions by launching that morning with guidance of 3.7% area.

Books have closed for the debut offshore renminbi bond from Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) Dubai Branch, with a banker close to the deal reporting that orders had reached about Rmb1.2bn ($195m) by 3pm Hong Kong time on Wednesday. The books closed at 4:45pm.

The debut offshore renminbi bond from Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) Dubai Branch is expected to launch on Wednesday morning Dubai time after a conference call between the lead banks and the issuer, according to a banker close to the deal.

Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) Dubai Branch is set to launch its debut renminbi-denominated bond this week, two bankers close to the deal have told GlobalRMB. The deal will mark the first offshore RMB bond from the UAE operation of a Chinese bank and paves the way for Dubai to become the RMB hub for the Middle East region.

The emirate of Sharjah will be ready to launch its debut sukuk next week after starting investor meetings on Wednesday. A Middle East market awash with liquidity will welcome the deal with open arms, but the issuer is still likely to offer a concession relative to the main comparable Ras Al-Khaimah, said one investor.