Emirates Islamic Bank plans sukuk

Emirates Islamic Bank, a unit of Emirates NBD (ENBD), has picked six banks for a potential benchmark-sized dollar sukuk, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The lender selected National Bank of Abu Dhabi, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citi, RBS and ENBD Capital. Any eventual bond issue will be fully guaranteed by Emirates NBD, lead arrangers said in a mandate announcement seen by Reuters. Investor meetings kick off in Malaysia tomorrow and will cover Singapore and Abu Dhabi before ending in London on January 10. A sukuk could follow depending on market conditions, said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Benchmark-sized is normally understood to be at least $500 million. An ENBD spokesman was not immediately available for comment. In December, ENBD Chief Executive Rick Pudner said the bank was eyeing a five year Islamic bond and reviewing the timing of an issue. There is strong demand for sukuk despite the global volatility partly because Islamic investors in the Gulf remain cash-rich and due to the limited supply of sukuk issues. Emirates NBD shares ended 2 per cent lower yesterday, after ending 2011 over 6.5 per cent higher, outperforming the broader index.

Advanced Petrochemicals

Advanced Petrochemicals Company of Saudi Arabia will look again at the volume of polypropylene it sells to India, which has removed anti-dumping duty on Saudi exports of the chemical, said Abdullah Al Garawi, the company's president. While Advanced Petrochemicals shipped 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent of its polypropylene to India before the duty was imposed, its sales there are small at present, Al Garawi said in a telephone interview on Monday. The lifting of the 6.5 per cent duty, imposed in November 2010, was announced in a December 30 statement posted on the website of India's Central Board of Excise and Customs. The duty covered imports from companies including Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Advanced Petrochemicals and National Industrialisation.

Yamamah Cement

Yamamah Cement, a Saudi Arabian maker of the building material, said its estimated fourth-quarter profit rose to 191 million riyals (Dh186.99 million) from 160 million riyals a year earlier on higher sales. The company made the announcement in a statement to the Saudi bourse yesterday.

Qatar Holding

Qatar Holding, which recently raised its stake in Lagardere to 10.07 per cent, will seek a seat on the French media company's supervisory board, it said in a filing with the French stock market regulator.Qatar Holding also said in the filing that it may raise its Lagardere stake further, though it is not seeking control of the company.

BankMuscat

BankMuscat has signed a $170 million subordinated loan agreement with the International Finance Corporation, a unit of the World Bank, the Omani lender said in a statement posted on its website. In November, BankMuscat, Oman's largest lender by market value, said it was in talks with IFC to raise the agreed amount in subordinated debt. The loan agreement was signed on Dec-ember 29, the statement said. The IFC has invested in BankMuscat through the IFC Capitalisation Fund, set up to support emerging market banks. The funds are aimed at strengthening BankMuscat's capital base and supporting the bank's small and medium enterprises (SME) division and its housing finance unit, the statement said.

United Development

United Development, a Qatari company that invests in energy and infrastructure, advanced the most in a week amid investor speculation that a 16 per cent plunge in the previous two days was exaggerated. The shares climbed 1.3 per cent, the biggest intraday gain since December 27. The benchmark QE Index rose 1.1 per cent.United Development tumbled after Qatar's pension fund said on December 28 it seeks to buy 80 million shares at 20 riyals each, or less than the stock's traded value. The surge is a "correction," said Omar Darwish, an equity sales trader at Cairo-based Commercial International Brokerage. "It doesn't have to fall back to 20 riyals exactly."