Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Reuters: A unit of General Electric Co raised $500 million in a 5-year Islamic bond sale, the first by a large U. S. conglomerate, as it looks to diversify its investor base.
In July, GE and Mubadala Development Co, a state-owned investment holding company based in Abu Dhabi, established an $8 billion commercial finance joint venture for investments primarily in the Middle East and Africa……………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: Abu Dhabi’s First Gulf bank has raised $500 million with a three-year conventional bond, an executive said on Thursday.
“We had an order book in excess of $3 billion with a wide investor base including banks and hedge funds,” the executive told Reuters. He declined to give details of pricing……………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Joongang Daily: Korean companies such as GS Caltex Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co. will be able to sell Islamic bonds as economic growth picks up and ties with the Middle East improve, according to Citigroup Inc.
“With early signs of an economic revival in Asia and the Middle East, Korea’s move to position itself as an investment opportunity for Islamic investors is timely,” Mudassir Amray, the U.S. bank’s head of Islamic banking, said at a conference in Seoul yesterday. “Islamic funds are looking for diversification in their portfolios.”…………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Bloomberg: Indonesia is considering its first sale of euro-denominated bonds next year to widen its investor base and diversify funding, said Rahmat Waluyanto, director general of the Finance Ministry’s debt management department.
The strength of the euro, which has risen 6 percent against the U.S. dollar this year, is a consideration, Waluyanto said in an interview in Jakarta today……………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Worldbulletin.net: Turkey’s Islamic participation banks recorded profit in the third quarter of 2009. The participation banks of Turkey recorded 18 percent of net profit in the third quarter of 2009, over the same period of 2008, the Participation Banks Association of Turkey (TKBB) said on Wednesday.
An association statement said that the net profit of the participation banks in the mentioned period was 353 million USD (530 million Turkish liras-TL)……………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thesundaily.com: Islamic Bank Berhad (Maybank Islamic) recently clinched the Most Outstanding Islamic Bank award at this year’s Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum (KLIFF) Islamic Finance Award.
This is the second year Maybank Islamic has received an award from KLIFF. Last year, it won the Most Outstanding Islamic Retail Bank award……………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Thenational.ae: Local lenders have a total exposure of US$2.9 billion (Dh10.65bn) to the struggling Saudi conglomerates Saad Group and Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi and Brothers, the Central Bank says.
The first official confirmation of the value of lending to the two companies is at the high end of analysts’ estimates for UAE banks, which were between $2bn and $3bn……………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Gulfnews.com: Any near-term merger activity among Gulf Arab banks is likely to focus on the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain, where margins are low and the customer base relatively small, a top Standard and Poor’s analyst said.
Mergers are far less likely in Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy, where a lower concentration of lenders helps promote profit growth and prudent risk management, said Emmanuel Volland, S&P’s Senior Director of Analytical Ratings for Middle East and North African Financial Institutions……………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Ameinfo.com: Bahrain-based Islamic investment lender, International Investment Bank (IIB) has reported a net loss of $0.6m for the third quarter of 2009, compared to a net income of $0.8m earned in the same period of 2008.
The loss is attributed to fewer investment banking transactions due to current market situation. Net loss for the nine month period was $2m, compared with net income of $12m for the same period last year, IIB said……………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Cpifinancial.net: The Individual Rating (or stand-alone strength) reflects QIB’s position as the leading Islamic franchise with a nearly 50 per cent share of Islamic assets and a nine per cent overall market share of system assets, in addition to the bank’s high earnings power from core banking and healthy capital ratios.
Fitch also takes a positive view of the timely and considerable State support for the domestic banking system. QIB’s liquidity is satisfactory and the tier 1 capital ratio is high at 17.4 per cent at end-9M09, underpinned by the Qatar Investment Authority’s (QIA) nearly QAR 1 billion capital injection (including share premium) in Q109……………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Arabianmoney.net: Foreign and local investors are snapping up bonds issued by Gulf companies and governments. Yesterday Qatar announced a $7 billion bond sale, the biggest and most tightly priced to date.
But are investors buying at the top of the bond market? Yields are exceptionally low. Perhaps they should really be looking at Gulf stock markets for value, or be preparing to do so if local markets have a correction after the long rally since February……………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Reuters: The financing of a $12.8 million new oil refinery in Saudi Arabia, a joint venture between state run Saudi Aramco and French Total will be completed early next year, a senior Total official said on Wednesday.
The Jubail oil refinery will be funded through 65 percent debt and 35 percent equity. The total financing is expected to be $8 billion……………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Tradearabia.com: Murabaha differs from interest-based lending as it is based on economic activity, an influential sharia scholar said on Thursday, countering criticism that sharia banking is a copy of conventional finance.
Murabaha, or cost-plus financing, is widely used to finance the purchase of assets from real estate to machinery but has been compared to conventional loans due to the profit earned by banks……………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
From Caribbeannetnews.com: Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) announced that it will provide an additional US$1 billion for agricultural development in poor countries, which will benefit member states of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC),of which Guyana is a member.
This announcement came on the eve of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Rome World Summit on Food and Security……………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 20 November 2009 by Laxman | Email|Print
Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque London: Apparently, there is a change of attitude among Arab investors, especially in retail, as they are becoming more engaged. But, foreign investors, beware: “if you’re not an emerging market investor, forget the Middle-East,” said Dr. Sabah Hamad al-Sabah al-Binali, CIO at Saffar Capital, a PE fund focused on the MENA region, at a seminar in London last week.
The compelling factors for the region include strong fundamentals (with oil as a key driver for growth), demographics, liquidity, convergence of markets and value. But “as some parts of the world have no cash and lots of talent, what we have is lots of cash but not talent,” he quipped……………………..Full Article: Source
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