Emirates Islamic closes $750 million sukuk issuance

Dubai - Issue receives overwhelming investor interest from across the globe

Emirates Islamic on Monday announced that it had successfully closed the issuance of a $750 million five-year sukuk from its $2.5 billion certificate issuance programme.
The issue, which will be listed on Nasdaq Dubai and the Irish Stock Exchange, received overwhelming investor interest from across the globe and marked the bank's return to the international debt capital markets after four years.

In September 2015, global ratings agency Fitch assigned Emirates Islamic a long-term issuer default rating of "A+" with a stable outlook, placing Emirates Islamic among the highest-rated banks in the UAE.
"We are extremely proud that the sukuk issuance has been heavily oversubscribed, a testament to our success and investors' belief in our growth potential. As one of the fastest-growing banks in the UAE last year, we are confident of maintaining our growth momentum over the coming years. We have decided to tap the market now to take advantage of the current market rates to drive our strategy and help us achieve our goal to become the clear leader in the Islamic banking sector," said Jamal bin Ghalaita, chief executive officer of Emirates Islamic.

For the 12 months ending December 31, 2015, the bank reported a 76 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit to Dh641 million. The bank's total net income (net of customers' share of profit) during the period rose to Dh2.43 billion, up 25 per cent compared to Dh1.95 billion in 2014.

Bin Ghalaita added, "The strong demand for this sukuk is a clear sign of the resilience of the UAE economy, positive outlook of the nation's banking sector and the bank's strong credit fundamentals and growth outlook. Dubai has clearly emerged as the global hub for sukuk, and we expect that this listing will give further impetus to Dubai's aim to become the global capital of Islamic economy, as per the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minster of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai."
- business@khaleejtimes.com