Frankfurt: Deutsche Boerse AG, Europe's largest exchange by market value, cut its forecast for 2010 expenses after posting a lower-than-expected fourth-quarter loss. The shares rose.

The Frankfurt-based company said overall costs this year won't exceed 1.25 billion euros (Dh6.3 billion), according to an e-mailed statement.

The company predicted in November that expenses would be no higher than 1.28 billion euros. Deutsche Boerse plans to "streamline" its management structure and may move more jobs out of Frankfurt to cut costs, according to the statement.

Reducing employees

"We will achieve part of these planned savings by reducing the number of our executives," Reto Francioni, chief executive officer of Deutsche Boerse, said in a speech at a press conference in Frankfurt.

"We shall create a leaner management structure. The possibility of relocating further positions will be analysed," he said, without giving specific details.

The company, along with rivals NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and London Stock Exchange Group Plc, saw trading volume shrink last year following the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Saudi bond near

Deutsche Bank expects to bring to the market a "major" Islamic bond in Saudi Arabia by the end of the first quarter, as part of a wider push into the world's largest oil exporter, a company executive said on Tuesday.

Hussain A. Hassan, head of structuring, Middle East and North Africa told the Reuters Islamic Banking and Finance Summit that the sukuk will be greater than the benchmark size of $500 million (Dh1.835 billion). He declined to identify the sector.

He added that this mandate comes even as the industry struggles from a slowdown in issuances in the Gulf.

"The beginning of this year has not been encouraging," Hassan said, adding that issuances should be "at par or slightly lower than 2009."

Despite the industry's difficulties, Deutsche Bank continues to see interest in issuances by sovereign and quasi-sovereign entities, with a number of mandates coming out of Saudi Arabia.

He added that Deutsche Bank has less than 10 but more than five mandates in the pipeline, with many of them coming from Saudi Arabia.