Middle East Bonds

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) has opened books on a dual tranche deal, its first since 2016, which bankers say is an encouraging sign that markets are normalising after a choppy week driven by geopolitical risk.

Some 10 months after the eruption of the Gulf diplomatic crisis last summer, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have proved that the market is big enough for both of them, printing $11bn and $12bn deals respectively, and garnering a combined book exceeding $100bn.

The State of Qatar had taken orders of $32.5bn by lunchtime on Thursday, putting to bed any concerns that Saudi Arabia’s $11bn trade would cannibalise demand for its regional rival. In fact the strong performance of Saudi’s paper in the secondary market has helped boost support for Qatar’s trade, according to a banker on the deal.

Two Middle Eastern issuers were on track to price sukuk on Wednesday, but Saudi Arabia’s jumbo $11bn bond has cast a shadow over Sharjah Islamic Bank’s trade and led to decreased demand from outside of the region, according to a Dubai-based banker on that deal.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia printed its $11bn bond on Tuesday, which several bankers and investors thought had been timed to maximise disruption of Qatar’s return to market, which is also expected this week. But leads said the modest size taken by Saudi from a $50bn book showed that there was no intention of throwing the capital markets into disarray.

Saudi and Qatar look to be printing jumbo bonds this week, but the timing of both in the same few days after so many months of waiting is prompting chatter about which sovereign has caused the traffic jam and whether political machinations are behind it.

Mannai Corp, a Qatari conglomerate, looks set to bring the first public bond from the country since the Gulf diplomatic crisis erupted last summer.

Two Middle East issuers are roadshowing deals, adding to the flurry of post-Easter CEEMEA new issue announcements.

Mannai Corporation looks set to bring the first public bond from Qatar since the Gulf diplomatic crisis erupted last summer.

The Kingdom of Bahrain was set to print a $1bn 7.5 year sukuk on Wednesday evening from a book of $2.2bn, with leads having managed to crunch the coupon to 6.875%. Rivals had called the guidance for the note “a new record” high for a new issue premium, but leads said the illiquidity of the sukuk curve rendered the concept of new issue premium almost meaningless.

The Kingdom of Bahrain has squashed its plans to issue conventional bonds but is forging ahead with its long seven year sukuk, putting out initial price guidance for the deal.

Syndicates away from the Kingdom of Bahrain's new issue are saying that a huge widening in the sovereign’s outstanding bonds is indicative that investors are “not happy” to see the new paper arriving, though those on the deal are simply blaming market volatility.