SUKUK PIPELINE – Issue plans around the world

The Thomson Reuters Global Sukuk Index is at 117.97246 points, down from 118.20147 at the end of last month but up from 115.79726 at the end of last year. The Thomson Reuters Investment Grade Sukuk Index is at 116.67852 against 116.92144 at end-July and 113.69014 at end-2014.

AXIATA – Axiata Group, Malaysia’s biggest mobile telephone operator by market value, said in mid-August it planned to restructure a $590 million loan in Indonesia into a local currency-denominated partial sukuk to reduce its exposure to foreign exchange volatility.

TIME DOTCOM – Malaysia’s TIME dotCom is proposing a 1 billion ringgit ($240 million) sukuk programme to run until 2035, to expand its fibre footprint and for other purposes, RAM Ratings reported in mid-August.

PHILIPPINES – Sukuk are a funding option for the Philippine government, National Treasurer Roberto Tan told Reuters in mid-August, adding that he hoped Congress would pass legislation to allow such issuance.

ALMARAI – Saudi Arabian dairy producer Almarai will issue a senior sukuk of up to 2 billion riyals ($533 million) to help finance investment plans, it said in mid-August.

AL OTHAIM – Saudi Arabia’s Al Othaim Real Estate and Investment Co, owner of five shopping malls in the kingdom, is marketing a five-year debut sukuk issue which could raise up to 1 billion riyals for the company, sources aware of the matter said in mid-August.

BEST LEASE – Mohamed Frad, board member at Tunis-based Best Lease, a commercial leasing firm, told Reuters in early August that the company aimed to raise up to 30 million dinars ($15.6 million) via sukuk to finance its growth after finance ministry rules covering issuance of corporate sukuk were published, which was expected within months. Tunisia’s Banque Zitouna and El Wifack Leasing were also considering sukuk issues.

KUWAIT – Kuwait is preparing legislation to facilitate issues of sukuk by the government as it assesses options to finance a big budget deficit caused by low oil prices, Finance Minister Anas al-Saleh said in late July. He did not specify when any issues might occur.

IVORY COAST – Ivory Coast will launch the first tranche of a local currency sukuk programme this year, selling 150 billion CFA francs ($252 million), a government spokesman said in late July.

BANK MUSCAT – Bank Muscat has delayed plans to launch a 500 million rial ($1.3 billion) sukuk programme after the central bank rejected the proposal, a source at the bank told Reuters in mid-July. “We will restructure the sukuk proposal and file for the approval again,” he said.

TURKIYE FINANS – Turkiye Finans Katilim Bankasi has invited banks to pitch for a potential dollar-denominated sukuk to bolster its supplementary capital, sources familiar with the deal told Reuters in mid-July.

TENAGA NASIONAL – Malaysia’s Tenaga Nasional has hired three banks to help raise up to 9.5 billion ringgit through a sukuk issue, to develop a greenfield power plant it has taken over from debt-laden state fund 1MDB, bankers said in mid-July.

ARAB NATIONAL BANK – Saudi Arabia’s Arab National Bank has received regulatory approval to raise 2 billion riyals ($533 million) through sukuk which will enhance its supplementary capital, it said in mid-July.

RENAISSANCE SERVICES – Shareholders of Oman’s Renaissance Services approved in early July plans for the company to buy back mandatory convertible bonds and finance that by issuing up to $200 million of perpetual bonds, either conventional or sukuk.

APICORP – Saudi Arabia-based Arab Petroleum Investments Corp could issue its first sukuk later this year as part of its recently-established $3 billion sukuk programme, the company said in early July.

ABU DHABI ISLAMIC BANK – Shareholders of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank approved in late June authorisation for the bank to raise its Tier 1 capital to $3 billion through sukuk issuance.

TURKEY – The Republic of Turkey is seeking to raise $1.5 billion from issuance of sukuk and yen-denominated bonds this year, a Treasury official said in late June: around $400 million equivalent from the yen-denominated transaction and the rest from sukuk.

IFC – The International Finance Corp, the World Bank’s lender to the private sector, has started work on a return to the sukuk market, with plans to issue sharia-compliant debt after the Gulf summer, a spokeswoman said.

BRUNEI – Brunei’s central bank is preparing to issue long-term sukuk for the first time in the “very near future” while widening the eligible list of buyers of its issuance programme, it said in mid-June.

TOYOTA – The Malaysia unit of Toyota Motor Corp plans to set up a 2.5 billion ringgit programme to raise funds via both conventional and Islamic bonds, a regulatory filing showed in mid-June.

SAPURAKENCANA – SapuraKencana Petroleum, a Malaysian oil and gas services firm, said in mid-June that it planned to raise up to 7 billion ringgit with a multi-currency sukuk programme.

SINDH – Pakistan’s Sindh province plans to raise as much as $200 million through a debut issue of sukuk to help fund development and infrastructure projects, the province’s minister of finance said in mid-June.

DRAKE & SCULL – Dubai’s Drake & Scull International set initial price guidance for its senior perpetual U.S. dollar sukuk issue at around 9 percent on June 10, but the issue has not been launched since then, apparently because of market instability. It declined to comment on whether the issue had been formally cancelled.

ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT BANK – The Islamic Development Bank increased the ceiling of its Islamic bond programme to $25 billion from $10 billion, as it aims to expand its financing across member countries, the Jeddah-based lender said in early June.

CAGAMAS – Malaysian mortgage lender Cagamas still hopes to issue sukuk this year off a $2.5 billion multi-currency programme set up last November, but foreign exchange volatility is hampering any issue in U.S. dollars, the most likely option, its chief executive told Reuters in early June.

BARWA BANK – Shareholders of Qatar’s Barwa Bank approved plans for a $2 billion senior unsecured sukuk programme that could be issued in various currencies, the lender said in early June.

BAHRI – Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority granted approval to National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) to issue sukuk, the regulator said on June 1. Bahri plans to complete a debut Islamic bond offer worth up to 3.9 billion riyals this quarter, the company’s vice chief executive officer for finance Mohammad Alotaibi said earlier.

ADIRA DINAMIKA – Indonesian leasing company Adira Dinamika Multi Finance is expected to launch a dual-tranche bond at end-May, bankers said. It aims to sell bonds worth 2.5 trillion rupiah ($190 million), split into a 2 trillion rupiah conventional portion and a 500 billion rupiah sukuk portion.

OMAN – Oman plans to sell its first sovereign Islamic bond, an issue of 200 million rials of sukuk, through a private placement and will launch subscriptions soon, an Omani official was quoted as saying in mid-May by the Times of Oman.

AEON CREDIT – Malaysia’s Aeon Credit Service said in mid-May it planned to raise 1 billion ringgit via sukuk murabaha for working capital, repayment of debt and financing for customers.

EGYPT – Egyptian Finance Minister Hany Kadry Dimian said at the end of April that he hoped to issue ijara-structured sukuk, the country’s first sovereign sukuk issue, at the beginning of the 2015/2016 fiscal year starting in July.

CIMB – CIMB Group Holdings, Malaysia’s second largest bank by assets, plans to establish a new 6 billion ringgit conventional and Islamic bond programme, a regulatory filing by RAM Ratings said in late April. A CIMB official confirmed the details.

TELEKOM MALAYSIA – Telekom Malaysia set up in late April a $750 million, multi-currency sukuk programme that may see the state-owned company return to global markets after a long absence.

BNI SYARIAH – PT Bank BNI Syariah, the Islamic subsidiary of state lender PT Bank Negara Indonesia, plans to issue sukuk mudaraba with a three-year tenor worth up to 750 billion rupiah in an offer on May 18 and 19, the Jakarta Post quoted CEO Dinno Indiano as saying in mid-April.

JORDAN – Jordan chose the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector to support its debut sovereign issue of sukuk, the ICD said in mid-April; the dinar-denominated issue is expected this year and would be used to absorb excess liquidity held by Jordan’s Islamic banks, which is estimated to total 1.4 billion dinars ($2 billion).

AXIS REIT – Malaysia’s Axis REIT said in early April that it had expanded its sukuk programme to 3.0 billion ringgit from 300 million ringgit, and extended the length to perpetual from 15 years.

TALIWORKS – Malaysia’s Taliworks Corp announced in early April that the Securities Commission had authorised its proposed issuance of 210 million ringgit worth of sukuk murabaha, Bernama news agency reported.

KAZAKHSTAN – Kazakhstan’s Finance Ministry is expected soon to propose a draft law allowing its first sovereign sukuk issue, which will probably take place early next year, Yerlan Baidaulet, an adviser to the Investments and Development Ministry, told Reuters in early April.

SENEGAL – Senegalese President Macky Sall said in early April that he had asked the Islamic Development Bank to help his country conduct a second sovereign sukuk issue. He gave no details.

OMANTEL – Oman Telecommunications

ZORLU ENERGY – Turkish firm Zorlu Energy has obtained approval from Turkey’s regulator to raise 100 million lira via sukuk, the regulator said in mid-March.

INTERNATIONAL BANK OF AZERBAIJAN – International Bank of Azerbaijan, the country’s largest and the only state-owned bank, plans to issue $200-300 million of debut sukuk this year, a senior manager said in early January. Sources said in mid-March that the lender had manadated banks for the deal.

NIGERIA – Nigeria is exploring with the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector the idea of issuing sovereign sukuk, the ICD’s head told Reuters in mid-March.

MASRAF AL RAYAN – Masraf Al Rayan, Qatar’s second-largest bank by market value, is eyeing a debut in the debt capital markets this year after inviting bankers to pitch for arranger roles on a potential U.S. dollar-denominated benchmark sukuk issue, sources said in mid-March.

LUXEMBOURG – Luxembourg intends to issue more sovereign sukuk in 2016 after conducting its first such issue last year, Luxembourg finance minister Pierre Gramegna was quoted as saying by the Gulf Times in March.

NIGER – Niger’s government will establish a sukuk programme worth 150 billion CFA francs, permitting its first issue of sukuk, with assistance from the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank, the Jeddah-based body said in late February.

GULF FINANCE HOUSE – Gulf Finance House plans to make a $230 million convertible sukuk issue this year to help it fund acquisitions of two to three regional firms, its chairman told Reuters in late February.

JORDAN ISLAMIC BANK – Jordan Islamic Bank, the largest Islamic bank in the country and a unit of Bahrain’s Al Baraka Banking Group, plans a 10-year local currency sukuk issue by year-end, the parent’s chief executive Adnan Ahmed Yousif told Reuters in mid-February.

SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa is not planning to issue U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk in 2015 but may print them in 2016, a funding official said. The government is also looking at issuing domestic sukuk in rand.

QATAR INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC BANK – Qatar International Islamic Bank is seeking shareholder approval to raise up to 3 billion riyals ($825 million) through a capital-boosting sukuk issue, the bank said in early February.

SGI-MITABU – SGI-Mitabu, a consortium of two Brisbane-based solar energy companies, will issue offshore-domiciled sukuk in July, The Malaysian Insider quoted a senior executive as saying in early February. If it goes ahead, the deal will be Australia’s first issuance of sukuk.

BANK ISLAMI – Bank Islami Pakistan, the country’s second largest full-fledged Islamic bank, plans to raise 3.5 billion rupees via subordinated sukuk, a bank official said. Issuance of the first 500 million rupee tranche, which still requires regulatory approval, could be as early as this quarter.

MOBILINK – Pakistan Mobile Communications (Mobilink), the country’s largest telecommunications operator, plans to raise 6.9 billion rupees via sukuk this quarter, Pakistan Credit Rating Agency said.

INTERNATIONAL BANK OF AZERBAIJAN – International Bank of Azerbaijan, the country’s largest and the only state-owned bank, plans to issue $200-300 million of debut sukuk this year, a senior manager said in early January.

TUNISIA – Tunisia will delay its planned debut issue of $500 million in Islamic bonds until the third quarter of the year to allow parliament time to amend a law concerning the sale, Finance Minister Hakim Ben Hamouda said in early January.

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