Taliworks Corp Bhd , a Malaysian water and waste management company, said on Tuesday its 55 percent subsidiary Cerah Sama Sdn Bhd received regulatory approval to sell 750 million ringgit ($247.16 million) worth of Islamic bonds.
The country’s securities commission approved the bond issue by Cerah Sama, which owns and operates the concession for a 11-kilometer highway in the country’s capital. “Proceeds will be utilised to refinance existing medium-term notes, finance investments, working capital requirements and general corporate purposes,” Taliworks said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Nakheel PJSC, the Dubai developer that was rescued by the government in 2009 after a property crash, said it may refinance its Islamic bonds this year after reporting a 57 percent increase in annual profit.
The company, which built palm-shaped islands off Dubai’s coast, has received offers from local and foreign banks to refinance its sukuk, on which it pays annual interest of 10 percent, Chairman Ali Rashid Lootah said at a press conference in Dubai today. “Refinancing will not be an issue,” he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Multinational banks such as Citibank, Credit Agricole and the Islamic Development Bank expressed willingness to provide support to Egypt in the early stages of issuing Islamic bonds, an adviser to the finance minister said. Ahmed al-Naggar, the adviser responsible for the Islamic bonds, or sukuk, said the banks were willing to provide technical and administrative support and to train staff.
“They are willing to do so because they project good growth rates,” Naggar told state news agency MENA, referring to the bonds, and adding that they would be offered on the stock exchange and global financial markets………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Egypt’s government is using an ingenious stratagem to try to push a bill authorising issues of sovereign sukuk past Islamic scholars, but even if it passes, the bill may not shield authorities from controversy that could slow issuance.
The cabinet last week approved a draft law that would allow the government to issue Islamic bonds; the bill will now be presented for review to the upper house of parliament and religious scholars at Cairo’s prestigious Al-Azhar university. The government is keen to issue sukuk internationally to help finance the country’s budget and external deficits, and finance minister Al-Mursi Al-Sayed Hegazy said this week that sukuk could eventually raise $10 billion for the state………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Malaysia’s Sime Darby Bhd , the world’s largest palm oil company by planted area, today priced the first issuance of an US$800 million (RM2.43 billion) Islamic bond under a US$1.5 billion facility established earlier this month.
The first Islamic bond, or sukuk, will be issued in two tranches - a five-year US$400 million sukuk priced at 2.05 per cent per annum, and a 10-year US$400 million sukuk at 3.3 per cent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sime Darby Bhd’s maiden US dollar-sukuk issuance for a total of US$800mil (RM2.4bil) has been oversubscribed by 10 times, reflecting the conglomerate’s strong order book of more than US$8bil held via 376 orders from high-quality investors.
“This issuance is considered highly successful, notwithstanding the heavy supply in the primary US dollar bond market,” said the company. To be issued in two tranches, the company has priced the US$400mil (RM1.2bil) five-year sukuk issue at a fixed coupon rate of 2.053% and the US$400mil 10-year sukuk issue at a fixed coupon rate of 3.29%………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Government of Dubai, acting through the Department of Finance, on Wednesday, opened the first issue of the year in the Mena capital markets with a dual-tranche landmark transaction, which has successfully raised $1.25 billion across a 10-year sukuk and a first ever 30-year conventional issue.
The aggregate order book was over twelve times oversubscribed demonstrating tremendous investor appetite. The well-planned and swift intra-day execution took advantage of the positive market environment which led to a quick build of a large and high-quality order book for a 10-year sukuk………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, plans to raise $1 billion through a global Islamic bond in the second half of 2013 to help plug its budget gap, a top official told Reuters.
This would bring the contribution to its annual budget from domestic and global Islamic bonds to as much as 57 trillion rupiah ($5.9 billion), the same amount as 2012………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announced last Monday that the monthly issue of the Sukuk Al-Salam Islamic securities for the BD18 million issue, which carries a maturity of 91 days, has been oversubscribed by 193%.
The expected return on the issue, which begins on 23 January 2013 and matures on 24 April 2013, is 1.00%. The securities are issued by the CBB on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain………………………………………..Full Article: Source

RAM Ratings has reaffirmed the AA3 long-term rating of Kesas’ MYR 800 million Al-Bai’ Bithaman Ajil Islamic Debt Securities while revising its rating outlook to stable from negative. Kesas is the toll concessionaire for the 35-km Shah Alam Expressway (the Highway) under a concession agreement dated 19 November 1993.
RAM’s rating action follows the Government’s recent announcement that Kesas will receive an MYR 86 million cash compensation for non-revision of its toll rates in 2012. At the same time, toll rates for the Highway would be reduced effective 15 January 2013 while tariffs would not be raised until 2016 (the toll rate for Class 1 vehicles has already been lowered from MYR 2.20 to MYR 2.00)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sukuk markets had a record year in the primary markets with issuance totalling USD 139B in 2012, a 64.1% YoY increase. We expect demand for sukuk to continue exceeding supply. The upgrade and development of infrastructure in both the GCC and Asia will continue to provide appealing sukuk investment opportunities, particularly in Saudi Arabia.
Sukuk volatility is relatively low compared with emerging markets debt, due to the thin nature of its secondary markets and the typically higher credit quality of issuers………………………………………..Full Article: Source

FIMBank President Margrith Lütschg-Emmenegger told Times of Malta, that it would be the first to bring Islamic banking to Malta if Middle Eastern institutional investors take a controlling interest in the next few months.
She said FIMBank was heading for a major strategic turning point the joint offer by Kuwait’s Burgan Bank and Bahrain-licensed United Gulf Bank is given the go-ahead at FIMBank’s EGM on 31 January………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Reuters reports that Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank Gulf Finance House is ‘studying options’ with regard to merging Khaleeji Commercial Bank with ‘other Bahraini banks’.
In a filing to the Bahrain Bourse and the Dubai Financial Market, Gulf Finance House said, “GFH is currently studying a number of options to merge Khaleeji Commercial Bank with other banks in Bahrain to create a bigger and stronger bank.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is likely to provide credits up to US$ 11 billion to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) in four years up to 2016 for purchase of petroleum oil, officials said Wednesday.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) officials said the Jeddah-based lender had given assurances about giving $8.0 billion to $11 billion in the form of short-term credit to the state-owned corporation under its proposed Member Country Partnership Strategy (MCPS)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Players in the investment banking industry are expected to face tougher competition against a backdrop of economic moderation, said Affin Investment Bank. In a recent note to investors, the bank said the investment banking industry was facing stiffer competition due to weaker investor appetite amidst volatile markets.
However, opportunities would arise from new funding activities from Economic Transformation Programme-related projects in the domestic private sector, it added………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Tamweel , the UAE Islamic home finance provider, net profit dropped 29 per cent to Dh72 million in 2012 as compared to Dh102 million in the previous year due to exceptional provisions relating to certain ongoing litigations for which the company made full provision while continuing to fight its rights.
Tamweel reported operating income at Dh603 million in 2012 compared with Dh601 million in 2011……………………………………….Full Article: Source

With the move to risk-based capital (RBC) and market liberalisation well underway, the Malaysian insurance sector is poised for a flurry of activities and consolidation, an entry into one of the world’s most potentially lucrative markets.
A second wave of mergers and acquisitions in the insurance and takaful markets is about to get underway, linked to a new regulatory requirement and new strategies, Oxford Business Group (OBS) highlighted in its Malaysia Report. This followed a first wave that came after the insurance authorities moved to implement RBC requirements for conventional insurers………………………………………..Full Article: Source