Dubai Islamic Bank, which is the largest Islamic bank in the Gulf region, has sold $1 billion in additional tier 1 sukuk at 4.625 percent. Dubai Islamic Bank began marketing the notes at around 5.25 percent and received over $5.5 billion in orders for the debt sale.
It is reported that debt issuance in the Gulf region has already exceeded last year’s total, crossing the coveted $100 billion mark. However, in a report, global credit rating agency Moody’s said that global issuance of sukuk is expected to decline in 2020 after four years of consecutive growth. Moody’s expects global sukuk issuance to be $170 billion this year, down from $179 billion in 2019.
Last month, Dubai Islamic Bank reported Dh3.12 billion net profit for nine-months of 2020, down 22 percent year-on-year. The bank reported a total income of around Dh9.9 billion during the period. Its net operating revenue also increased to Dh6.9 billion supported by core business growth, robust fees and commissions and foreign exchange income of Dh1.32 billion.
Earlier this year, the board of directors at Dubai Islamic Bank recommended its management to increase the foreign ownership limit in the bank’s share capital. While the foreign ownership limit at Dubai Islamic Bank stood at 25 percent, the board of Dubai Islamic Bank seeks to increase it to 40 percent.
The bank also completed the integration of Noor Bank earlier this month, following the completion of the merger of both banks.