Middle East Bonds

Turkey’s Albaraka Turk and Kuveyt Turk plan to issue dollar sukuk before the Ramadan holiday in June, according to three market participants.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa) and Dubai shopping mall firm Majid Al Futtaim this week showcased the strong demand for emerging markets — at least outside of Russia and Ukraine — when they and hit their target bond sizes with ease and also managed to crunch pricing of their new debt to inside their own curves.

Emirates NBD this week became the third Middle Eastern issuer this year to take to the Kangaroo market, selling a five year bond. A weaker rating than other Middle Eastern issuers that have been active in the Kangaroo market harmed the issuer’s appeal to Australian investors, but a juicy spread over swaps drew in Asian investors.

Turkey’s Albaraka Turk and Kuveyt Turk plan to issue dollar sukuk before the Ramadan religious holiday in June, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has hired James Burdett from ANZ Bank as its new group chief financial officer. At ANZ Burdett was CFO of international and institutional banking.

Turkey’s Albaraka Turk and Kuveyt Turk plan to issue dollar sukuk before the Ramadan religious holiday in June, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

Taqa used the strategy of a capped size and fair starting point for price talk to print its $750m 10 year bond 10bp inside its outstanding curve on Tuesday, according to a lead manager. It built a $4.55bn book in the process.

Majid Al Futtaim’s $500m bond held its ground in the secondary market on Wednesday morning, after the Dubai shopping mall operator priced the 10 year note well inside guidance on Tuesday afternoon.

Emirates NBD on Wednesday became the third Middle Eastern issuer this year to take to the Kangaroo market, selling a five year bond. Despite a weaker rating than other Emirati banks seen in market, the deal found favour with Asian accounts as a result of an attractive spread.

Malaysian property firm Hua Yang plans to issue MR250m ($76m) of murabaha sukuk.

Dubai shopping mall operator Majid Al Futtaim has listed a $1bn sukuk programme on the Irish Stock Exchange through its MAF Sukuk Ltd special purpose vehicle, opening up the possibility of a return to the Islamic bond market.

Having been labelled ‘toppy’ in some quarters last week after a quick-fire 15 year sovereign sukuk, there is no sign of a retreat this week from Dubai or its neighbour Abu Dhabi. Investors have set aside nerves once again and scampered to fill their shopping carts with Majid Al Futtaim and Taqa 10 year bonds. Then again, there are plenty of reasons to brush off toppiness for now and say Dubai ain’t all bad.