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News & Views General Qatar Islamic Bank’s London-based unit named European Finance House established a mutual fund to invest in sukuk offered by corporate, sovereign and quasi-sovereign issuers. Al Rayan Investment, a subsidiary of Masraf Al Rayan formed an alliance with Gulf Bridge International to launch $445 Mn worth maritime communications project. Kingdom holding reported [...]
News & Views General Saudi property developer named Knowledge Economic City Co. is expected launch an IPO in the third quarter of 2009 to raise SR1.02 Bn. The company would offer 30.0% of 339.3 Mn shares at SAR10 per share. Due to economic slowdown, capital raised through IPO in the Middle East has fallen to [...]
News & Views General Abu Dhabi based Waha Capital is likely to announce acquisitions worth between $500 Mn and $1 Bn. The company could borrow funds in the future to finance its purchases. Gulf investors are set to launch $10 Bn worth Islamic bank and planning a $3 Bn worth initial public offering in the [...]
GCC markets reported a strong performance during the week ended April 16, 2009. The commendable performance of all the GCC bourses can be ascribed to the expectations of economic recovery following the action plans put forward during the G20 summit. Furthermore, the decision to slash interest rates in major markets, namely Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, [...]
Markets across the world rallied despite weak economic indicators, reflecting the increasing risk appetite of global investors. Most global indices rose during the week ended April 17, 2009, as higherthan-expected earnings from financial companies provided some solace to investors.At US$1.81billion, Goldman Sachs’ earnings for the first quarter of 2009 were better-than-expected, boosting investor confidence even [...]
News & Views General Mashreq Capital has announced to set up an Islamic fund worth $ 100 Mn to invest in Sukuks offering high returns. The company is planning to raise between $50 Mn and $100 Mn in the next 18 months. Bahrain based Unicorn Investment Bank is in merger discussions with various Gulf lenders [...]
GCC markets performed commendably during the week ended April 09, 2009. The robust performance of almost all the GCC bourses can be ascribed to the recent G-20 summit during which leaders put forward quite a few proposals to stabilize the global financial market and improve regulatory mechanisms. This may have encouraged investors to increase their [...]
Global equity markets remained upbeat for the fifth consecutive week as expectations of economic revival gained momentum after leading foreign banks declared higher-than-expected profits in the first quarter of 2009. Wells Fargo & Company announced a net income of US$3 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, adding to the euphoria of an early [...]
Takaful (an Islamic insurance concept based within Islamic banking law) is booming, fuelled by high economic growth, a young population, and a desire to conform to Islamic law. As per an Ernst & Young report, in 2006 the GCC contributed US$1 billion towards the global Takaful market total of US$2 billion. According to Ernst & [...]
GCC financial institutions and industrial companies are soon set to issue Islamic bonds worth US$30 billion, according to Moody’s Investor Services. The Islamic bond issues fell by more than 50% in 2008 compared to 2007. The value of bonds issued in 2008 was just over US$15 billion, while in 2007 it amounted to more than [...]
