Tamweel may tap debt market again

Tamweel may consider tapping the debt market again this year after the United Arab Emirates mortgage lender raised $300 million from the sale of Islamic bonds in January. “We may potentially go back to the market this year for either a sukuk or securitisation,” acting Chief Executive Officer Varun Sood said in an interview in Dubai on Monday. “It would be a similar transaction to what we did earlier this year.” The mortgage company, controlled by Dubai Islamic Bank, sold $300 million in sukuk in January, its first offering since 2008. The yield on its 5.154 per cent bonds due January 2017 was at 5.13 per cent on Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales of Islamic debt in the Gulf surged to $8.46 billion this year from $1.53 billion in the year-earlier period as borrowing costs tumbled to a five-month low. Average yields on sukuk from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council declined 41 basis points this year to 3.898 percent on March 29, the lowest since October. The rate was at 3.93 percent on April 13, the HSBC/Nasdaq Dubai GCC US Dollar Sukuk Index shows. Tamweel has Dhs3.3 billion ($900 million) of outstanding debt, including a $300 million Islamic bond due January 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company is “preparing to meet all our commitments, but there’s been no decision whether we’ll refinance or repay the sukuk in January 2013,” Sood said.