Middle East

Albaraka Turk scored a solid first last week when it issued Turkey’s first Basel III compliant additional tier one bond, but while this marks progress, it will take one of the country’s larger banks to establish a true benchmark.

It could be a clash of the Abu Dhabi banking titans as Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank is updating its MTN programme — a possible precursor to a bond issue — while First Abu Dhabi Bank is poised with a trade.

Demand for export credit agency financing is growing among firms operating in the Middle East as banks clamp down on lending amid low oil prices over recent years.

Turkey’s Akbank has the sole attention of EM investors on Tuesday as it looks to price its second Basel III compliant tier two transaction.

Energean, the oil and gas exploration company focused on the Eastern Mediterranean, plans to go public on the London Stock Exchange next month to finance the development of gas fields off the coast of Israel.

A hardening of the US attitude to Iran, tensions with Turkey and the Qatari crisis may be closing some doors for trade in the Middle East but experts are convinced it is opening others, with China's One Belt, One Road initiative pushing countries such as China, India and Russia towards the region.

Albaraka Turk, the Turkish subsidiary of Bahrain’s Albaraka Banking Group, has issued the first ever additional tier one capital bond from Turkey, doing so in private placement format.

Türk Eximbank is in the market for a $300m loan to refinance debt and support exporters.

Bank Sohar, the Omani bank, is expected to sign an oversubscribed three year loan for $300m by the end of February. Demand for the facility has been high from international banks despite the country’s rising budget deficit.

The two Turkish IPOs priced this year are trading roughly in-line with their listing prices, despite recent outflows from emerging market ECM. But it is too early to judge whether this represents a positive outlook for Turkish ECM this year, according to sources.

Qatar National Bank (QNB) has picked up $2.38bn of bonds via private placements (PPs) in the last fortnight. But the size of the deals are such that they would have been better printed as public Eurobonds.

Investment holding company Dubai Holding’s telecom business — Emirates International Telecommunications (EIT) — is looking to refinance a previous facility with a Dh2.1bn ($572m) club loan.