North Africa/Middle East

A decision by a Middle Eastern gas producer to declare its own Shariah-compliant bonds unlawful has baffled investors in the $2 trillion Islamic finance industry, Bloomberg News reported. Sharjah-based Dana Gas PJSC said Tuesday it no longer considered its two Islamic bonds totaling $700 million issued four years ago as Shariah compliant under the United Arab Emirates’ law.

A decision by Abu Dhabi-listed Dana Gas to declare $700 million of its sukuk invalid has sent shivers through the Islamic finance industry, raising concern about the safety of sharia-compliant debt instruments in general, Reuters reported. Dana said on Tuesday it had received legal advice that its sukuk, or Islamic bonds, which mature in October, were not compliant with the Islamic sharia code and had become "unlawful" in the United Arab Emirates.

Dana Gas PJSC plans to more than halve profit rates on $700 million of its Islamic bonds after they were found to be non-compliant with religious law, adding a new twist to a debt restructuring initiated in May, Bloomberg News reported.

Investors in Qatari stocks, bonds and currency forwards were saddled with losses since the country was thrust into the epicenter of an unprecedented spat with its neighbors. The country’s stock market shrank by about $11 billion in value on Tuesday, the most since 2010, after Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut ties with the Gulf nation, Bloomberg News reported. The country’s most liquid bonds tumbled last week as its sovereign rating was cut and bets against its currency surged.

The warmth Qatar inspires in the west as a highly-rated borrower turns out to be a local phenomenon. In the Gulf its ambitions to be a regional arbiter have made it deeply unpopular. A diplomatic rift with four of the emirate’s closest Arab neighbours threatens the future of both roles, the Financial Times reported. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have severed air, land and sea ties, accusing Qatar of supporting Islamist militants.

Dana Gas PJSC named legal and financial advisers to assess options for about $700 million in Islamic bonds due in October, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Houlihan Lokey Inc. will serve as financial adviser and Squire Patton Boggs LLP will provide legal counsel, according to the person, who asked not be identified because the matter is not public, Bloomberg News reported. None of the companies commented.

In 2011, Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer James Hogan hatched a bold strategy to catch up with the airline’s more established Persian Gulf rivals: buying stakes in smaller, cash-hungry carriers across three continents to cobble together enough passengers to propel the Abu Dhabi-based company into the ranks of the global aviation elite. But after more than $4 billion of share purchases, bond buyouts, and other investments, the wannabe airline superpower has little to show for its long-odds gamble, Bloomberg News reported.

Oman plans to sell $2 billion of Islamic bonds this month as it seeks to trim a large budget deficit caused by lower oil revenue, Finance Minister Darwish Al Balushi said. The crude exporter’s budget deficit will reach 12 percent of economic output this year and it will continue to narrow in the coming years, Al Balushi said in an interview Wednesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the sidelines of the Islamic Development Bank’s annual meeting, Bloomberg News reported.

The International Monetary Fund warned Saudi Arabia on Wednesday not to tighten fiscal policy too fast, saying rapid cuts to the government's budget deficit could damage the economy, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Tim Callen, head of an IMF team which held annual consultations with Saudi officials last week, said Riyadh's goal of balancing its budget was appropriate. Low oil prices in the past couple of years have pushed it deep into the red.

Dubai-listed conglomerate Gulf General Investment Co(GGICO) said on Monday it expected to complete a restructuring of around Dhs2.36bn ($643m) in loans by next month. The firm, which has investments spanning financial services, property, hospitality, manufacturing and retailing, previously renegotiated Dhs2.8bn in financial commitments in 2012. But the subdued local economy prompted the company to revisit that debt restructuring last year.