Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi’s General Holding Corporation (Senaat) listed $300 million (Dh1.1 billion) sukuk on the Abu Dhabi stock market on Sunday, making it the third listing of a bond this year.
The sukuk was over-subscribed 10 times with a strong demand from investors globally, Senaat’s CEO said in a press conference in Abu Dhabi. “We had done a very good road show and have got highest attraction and reached 10 times in subscription,” said Jamal Salem Al Daheri.
He said 65 per cent of the sukuk was subscribed by investors from the Mena region and 35 per cent by investors from Asia and Europe. “Majority of these investors were banks, pension funds and insurance companies and so on,” Al Daheri said.
The money raised through sukuk will be used in repaying debts of Senaat’s subsidiary Emirates Steel, he added. “Huge growth is happening in the future for Senaat and we look forward to sharing our 2018 financial results at the end of the year.”
When asked whether there could be another sukuk or bond next year, he said “yes there is a potential. We will review again.”
The sukuk, which will also be listed on the London Stock Exchange, was raised at a profit of 4.76 per cent with a 7-year tenure backed by A3 rating (stable) by Moody’s and A (stable) by Fitch issued last week.
Listed under the code XSSENAAT1225, the sukuk witnessed strong demand from over 180 local and global investors, according to a statement from Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) as well as Senaat.
This listing is the third of its kind this year on ADX. In October, Aldar Investment Properties’ sukuk was listed jointly with the Irish Stock Exchange. While in May of this year, ADX listed sovereign bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Maldives Ministry of Finance and Treasury on behalf of the Government of Maldives for the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the first of its kind in the UAE and the region.
The listing of Senaat’s sukuk on Sunday was done at a formal ceremony in the presence of acting chief executive of Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Khalifa Al Mansouri and other officials from Senaat.
Al Mansouri, who was Undersecretary of the Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi, replaced Rashid Al Beloushi as the CEO of ADX recently.
Emirates Steel expects strong performance
Meanwhile, Saeed Ghumran Al Rumaithi, CEO of Emirates Steel told Gulf News they are expecting strong performance in operations as well as on finance this year.
“We have a rally strong performance this year both from operations as well on finance. We are expecting better than what we announced this year,” Rumaithi said on the sidelines of Senaat sukuk listing on Abu Dhabi bourse.
Emirates Steel, a subsidiary of Senaat, posted a revenue of Dh6.6 billion for 2017, up 22.2 per cent compared to Dh5.4 billion in 2016, the firm’s CEO said earlier this year. Production capacity also increased to more than 3.2 million tonnes by the end of 2017.
When asked whether they are targeting new markets, he said: “We are always looking for new markets that suits us and makes sense for the company, not only to make money but for strategic alliance.”
