Dubai’s Emirates Islamic closes $500m sukuk issuance

Dubai’s Emirates Islamic has closed the issuance of a $500m five-year sukuk from its $2.5bn certificate issuance programme.

The issuance rated A+ by Fitch will be listed on NASDAQ Dubai and Euronext Dublin, Dubai Media Office reported.

Strong investor resulted in an order book of $1.2bn, roughly 2.4 times the issuance size with a profit rate of 1.827 per cent, the lowest achieved by a UAE bank in a decade.

.@emiratesislamic successfully closes US$ 500 million Sukuk issuance, from its US$ 2.5 billion Certificate Issuance Programmehttps://t.co/7i61pbofFi pic.twitter.com/L5ub9mWbki

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) September 21, 2020

The investor base was geographically diversified, with 41 per cent from the Middle East and North Africa, 28 per cent allocated to Asia, 17 per cent to US offshore investors and 14 per cent into Europe.

Salah Amin, chief executive officer, Emirates Islamic, said: “We are extremely proud that the sukuk issuance has been oversubscribed, reaffirming strong investor confidence in Emirates Islamic’s fundamentals and growth story.”

Bank ABC, Citigroup, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector acted as joint lead managers and bookrunners for the transaction.

A string of Islamic financial institutions have listed sukuks in recent months. In June this year, Dubai Islamic Bank listed a $300m sukuk on the Nasdaq Dubai exchange.

Read: Dubai Islamic Bank lists $300m sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai

Also in June, Sharjah Islamic Bank listed $500m sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai.

Read more: Sharjah Islamic Bank lists $500m sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai

The Islamic Economy contributed Dhs41.8bn to Dubai’s GDP in 2018, up 2.2 per cent over the previous year, and accounted for 9.9 per cent of the emirate’s GDP that year.

Read: Islamic Economy accounted for Dhs41.8bn of Dubai’s GDP in 2018