Middle East Bonds

The UK’s Islamic banks have good grounds for fury at missing out on the UK sovereign sukuk mandate. But for their own sakes, they must keep faith that the deal is a dress rehearsal for something bigger, and turn up in size to buy the paper.

Turkish participation bank Kuveyt Turk has priced a $500m five year sukuk at 340bp over mid-swaps, the tight end of refined guidance, after drawing $3.25bn of orders.

Turkiye Is Bankasi (Isbank) opened books on a seven year dollar benchmark on Wednesday morning, while Ziraat Bankasi will start a roadshow over a year after mandating for a debut deal in the same currency.

National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah (Rakbank) sold its $500m 3.25% five year bond at 160bp over mid-swaps on Tuesday afternoon, going straight from the initial guidance of 170bp area to pricing. Order books reached $1.6bn at their close.

Commercial Bank of Qatar priced its first dollar deal in more than two years flat to its existing curve on Tuesday after attracting more than $3bn of demand.

Kuveyt Turk gave initial price thoughts on Wednesday for a five-year dollar denominated sukuk at 375bp over mid-swaps. The Turkish participation bank plans to price $450m to $500m on Thursday, according to a banker on the deal.

The book for Commercial Bank of Qatar’s benchmark five year bond topped $3bn on Tuesday morning as price guidance was tightened to 117bp-120bp over mid-swaps. The deal will be priced in that range, said bankers.

National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah (Rakbank) launched its first ever benchmark dollar bond on Tuesday, having drawn $1.5bn in orders for its $500m inaugural.

Morocco is unlikely to issue its first ever sukuk this year and the country’s Islamic banking looks set for more delays, according to a senior parliamentary advisor.

The UK government has come under fire from the country’s Islamic banks after including none of them on the mandate to lead manage its inaugural sukuk.

The Middle East’s burgeoning pipeline of pre-Ramadan bonds and sukuk saw Etisalat and Emaar Malls achieve dazzling debuts this week, while Al Hilal Bank has lined up to issue what will be the UAE’s first tier one sukuk since Dubai Islamic Bank came to market last year.

With rumours rife that two Russian borrowers are about to break the country’s silence and launch new bonds, the EM bond market is awash with Turkish borrowers looking to rush through deals while they have a clear run.