Middle East

Two Middle Eastern issuers brought successful bond issues this week, catching the coat-tails of Saudi Arabia's success to print $3.25bn between them.

Abu Dhabi airline Etihad Airways has launched a Schuldschein for €150m denominated in euros and dollars, the first ever for a Middle East borrower, according to one market participant.

Saudi Electricity Company has signed a $420m loan from Crédit Agricole and Santander as growing domestic funding needs open up more opportunities for international banks.

Equate Petrochemicals drew orders of $5.5bn for its first dual tranche dollar bond on Thursday. The issuer opted for a two day execution to allow investors plenty of time to win credit approvals and place orders, according to bankers.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi is syndicating a $2bn term loan to replace bilateral loans. The UAE bank is paying more for the longer dated syndicated deal, though the latest pricing is still “aggressive”, according to one banker.

Equate Petrochemicals was on track to sell a dual tranche five and 10 year dollar note on Thursday, talking the bond with ample spread which suggested the issuer is planning a sizeable trade, thought one emerging markets banker.

After a run of lacklustre Turkish bank trades, Kuveyt Turk printed on Tuesday a $500m sukuk that was nearly four times subscribed. But the success was not universal to this week's Turkish bank issuance as Sekerbank failed to haul its tier two bond over the line.

Turkish retail group Boyner has arranged $170m of loans from local and foreign banks. Most of the deal was supplied by international lenders, despite the country having being downgraded to junk this year.

Two more Turkish banks opened order books on dollar trades on Tuesday, following Isbank, Vakifbank and Turk Eximbank last week. Sekerbank and Kuyeyt Turk are out with a Basel III tier two and a sukuk respectively.

Jordan made its second standalone entry into the international markets on Monday with a $1bn 10.25 year. The sovereign used Saudi Arabia’s international bond success last week and its index eligibility to grind in pricing to pay a negligible new issue premium.

Moody’s has assigned a provisional Baa1 rating to the mortgage backed covered bonds of Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi and the issuer has published its base prospectus, suggesting it could soon be ready to issue.

Several loans from Omani credits are being tipped to be launched this year, but, after several large deals, some bankers have concerns that lending appetite is waning.