Middle East Bonds

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.

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.

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

Kuwait Energy has mandated Bank of America Merrill Lynch as the sole bookrunner for a Reg S dollar bond. The roadshow for the deal will start on July 15.

A dispute between shareholders of the Algerian subsidiary of Bahrain’s Al Salam has seen Algeria’s central bank commission place the bank under temporary administration.

Corporate and debutant issuers have driven Saudi sukuk to its busiest six months on record according to IFIS figures.