Vodafone Industries Qatar
Nakilat Barwa Gulf Holding Int. Islamic
Bank Qatar Islamic
Bank
Comm. Bank of Qatar Rayyan Bank
257,206
223,596 281,595 1,229,936 78,103 262,761 150,450
8.10
308,211 758,080 15.50 108.20 19.30 82.00 32.40 15.10 84.50 47.00
Business | 23
Irish think worst yet to come for economy
China offers to buy Greek govt bonds
Sunday 3 October 2010 24 Shawwal 1431 Volume 15 Number 4745
Price: QR2
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Business | 22
Investors overwhelm QIB’s debut sukuk issue
Bank places $750m sukuk as investor demand totals $6bn; issue confirms QIB’s leadership, says Chairman
DOHA: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) announced yesterday that it had successfully placed $750m in its debut Sukuk with investor demand totalling an incredible
$6bn — about eight times the offered amount.
The sukuk has a maturity of five years and will pay a fixed coupon of 3.856 percent per annum
The Chairman of QIB’s board, Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani (pictured), said in a statement issued yesterday:
“Qatar Islamic Bank priced its highly successful debut interna- tional Sukuk on 30th September representing the first interna- tional Sukuk transaction from a Qatari financial institution.
“We are very pleased at the excellent market response to
Qatar Islamic Bank’s pioneer- ing Sukuk issue. The highly suc- cessful offering demonstrates the confidence which international investors place in the State of Qatar and its Islamic banking market and confirms the access to funding which our finan- cial institutions and corporates enjoy from the Islamic Capital Markets.”
He continued: “Investors’
strong interest resulted in the order book reaching to $6bn, around eight times of the offer amount. This is a highly suc- cessful result that further con- firms the credibility of QIB and the investors’ confidence in the promising outlook for QIB.
“This milestone provides QIB with further dynamics for its
future sukuk issuance and the overwhelming success proves that the investors around the globe remain highly receptive to our institution.
“This issue confirms QIB’s unrivalled leadership, position- ing the Bank as a pioneer in the Qatari banking sector and paving the way for further Sukuk issu- ances from the State of Qatar.
This successful sukuk issue will further strengthen QIB’s balance sheet and its ability to meet QIB’s commitment to national economic development.
“The outcome is a testa- ment to the invaluable support provided by the Qatar Central Bank and the Qatar Investment Authority to our institution and the wider industry, and part of
the ongoing visionary leadership of His Highness, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar”.
The QIB statement said the sukuk represents the first international issuance by Qatar Islamic Bank and the first sukuk by a Qatari financial institution.
The transaction re-opened the international sukuk market in 2010 for non-sovereign invest- ment grade issuers – the only other international Sukuk trans- actions in 2010 were from Dar Al Arkan and the Government of Malaysia. The fixed rate coupon on the transaction is the lowest ever hard currency coupon from a MENA financial institution to date.
QIB launched the Sukuk on the
back of an international roadshow, visiting key investors in Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
The deal received an excellent reception from the market with a near 8x oversubscribed orderbook, representing the largest order- book for a GCC financial institu- tion for a 5-year offering.
The transaction was able to price at MS+237.5bps, 25 bps through initial price whispers, and at the tight end of guidance.
While QIB was targeting to price the deal on par with CBQ, the strength of the order-book allowed the Bank to price its 2015 Sukuk around 10bps tighter than CBQ’s 2014 bond. QInvest, HSBC, and Credit Suisse were the joint lead managers for the issue.
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QIB wins Bank of the Year award
DOHA: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the leading Islamic institution in Qatar and owner of the largest Islamic banking network in the world, has been recognised as the Bank of the Year by the Arabian Business Awards.
The ceremony recently took place at the Four Seasons Hotel, and honored QIB as the region’s most dynamic financial institution.
The bank said the award under- scores QIB’s corporate strategy to provide leading Shari’a compliant banking solutions that meet the diverse requirements of clientele around the world.
The criteria for this award are extremely competitive and require an institution with growth shown throughout various sectors, and a cohesive support system that ensures the highest level of bank- ing standards.
QIB won the competition because of its expanding Islamic banking network, and the organ- izations efforts to cultivate the local economy through its mul- tifaceted operations, said the bank.
Furthermore, being recognized as the Bank of the Year is a dem- onstration of QIB’s innovative financial solutions and partner- ships which differentiate the bank from other institutions. One ele- ment that is pivotal to QIB’s cur- rent success is offering pioneering finance products that are able to capture market share in diverse areas including retail, corporate and private banking.
Salah Jaidah, Chief Executive Officer of QIB, said “By receiving this iconic award demonstrates our team’s unwavering commit- ment to amplify Qatar’s position- ing within the regional and global economy.”
He added that QIB constantly endeavors to perpetuate a corpo- rate culture that embraces inno- vation, unprecedented quality and offers leading financial solutions to the bank’s growing spectrum of clientele.
“Ultimately, this achieve- ment was only made possible by the collaboration of QIB’s many departments and divisions and our associates’ collective pursuit of excellence,” he said.
THE PENINSULA A QIB official receiving the award.
Qtel likely to buy Zain’s Saudi unit, says Sico bank
RIYADH: Qatar Telecom may seek to buy Zain Saudi Arabia, a deal which would clear a reg- ulatory hurdle for Emirates Telecommunications’ bid for parent company Zain, Bahrain- based Sico bank said.
Emirates Telecom, known as Etisalat, confirmed on Thursday it bid Dh1.7 a share for a 46 percent stake in Kuwait-based Zain, the Gulf Arab region’s third-largest telecoms firm, valuing the stake at just under $12bn.
Investors in Zain’s Saudi affili- ate reacted well to the announce- ment of Etisalat’s bid for Zain.
On their first trading day after the announcement, shares in Zain Saudi Arabia rose intraday by up to 5.7 percent yesterday.
Because the Saudi mobile phone market is a competing ground for state-controlled Saudi Telecom Etisalat — through affiliate Mobily — and Zain, the announcement of the bid has raised questions about the future
of Zain’s 25 percent stake in Zain Saudi Arabia.
A merger of Mobily and Zain
“seems unlikely” since it would violate merger guidelines in Saudi Arabia’s Telecom act, Sico said in a note.
“A merger (of Saudi mobile phone operators) should not prevent or lessen competi- tion substantially. The merged (Mobily-Zain Saudi) entity will have close to 55 percent mobile market share in this case and
will def initely lessen compe- tition in the kingdom,” Sico added.
“In this context, Qatar Telecom could be a possible contender for taking over Zain’s Saudi operation considering its strategic ambitions to expand its operations in its strategic ambitions to expand its operations in the region,” it said, predicting that Zain’s Saudi stake would be worth $925m assuming a 25 percent premium for a control- ling stake.
Zain Saudi Arabia has paid $6 billion for a licence to operate in the biggest Arab economy and has come under intense pressure from its two rivals.
Officials at Qatar Telecom could not be reached for a comment.
Zain Saudi Arabia plans to restructure its capital, cutting it by almost half to cover accumu- lated losses, and later launching a rights issue to raise it by nearly 60 percent.
REUTERS
Slew of activities to mark Ezdan jubilee
DOHA: Qatar’s real estate giant Ezdan Real Estate Co is all set to celebrate its golden jubilee on Sunday.
Project Manager of Ezdan Engineer Khalid Al Samarrai told to a press conference held at the conference hall of Ezdan Tower III on Thursday that com- pany has signed a contract with Al Basha Company for Technical Production, Advertising and Announcement, a famous com- pany to manage the golden jubilee celebrations.
Al Samarrai said that the cel- ebration will have several cul- tural, social and entertainment programmes starting, which started yesterday and run till Sunday. The events will include two lectures that will be held at the Symposium of Ezdan Hotel Tuesday on the topics of “how to update yourself ” by Dr Hanan Isa Abduzzahir and “how to invest in the stock exchange safely” by Dr Sayfi.
As part of the social activi- ties, the company will clean Al Wakra beach with the coop- eration of the Ministry of Environment on Monday. Some 50 saplings will be platnted with
the cooperation of the munici- pality on Tuesday. There will be a blood donation camp on Wedenesday.
An entertainment programme for children will be held at the swimming pool of Ezdan Hotel on Thursday. A folklore programme will be held on the same place Friday. The main golden jubi- lee celebration will be held on Sunday at 7pm at Ezdan Tower Hotel.
Al Samarrai said that some high profile personalities, who cooperated with the company have been invited to see the achievements of the company through a slide show. The com- pany will honour its employees with awards and gifts.
The project said that the com- pany was working on long term plans that the financial crisis did not affect the company. Ezdan is the only company that was not only stable during crises but expanded its projects during these days, he said. During this time Al Wakra complex was built and Ezdan has signed several contracts to build new towers in future.
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