DUBAI, 15 January 2006 — Property firms led Dubai stocks in a decline of more than 1 percent yesterday as retail investors booked profits after two days of gains around the Eid Al-Adha holiday. Dubai’s benchmark index closed 1.21 percent lower at 1,083.76 points while Abu Dhabi’s index ended 0.04 percent lower at 5,219.70 points. With earnings reports due this month, speculation had lifted the Dubai market 3.4 percent last Sunday and 1.98 percent on Thursday — the two trading days before and after the holiday.
PCFC’s Bond 3 Times Oversubscribed
DUBAI, 15 January 2006 — Dubai’s ports corporation received $11.4 billion in subscriptions for the biggest Islamic bond in history, making the issue three times oversubscribed, co-lead manager Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) said on Friday. The two-year bond’s issuer is the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC), holding company of rapidly expanding Dubai Ports World, which faces the prospect of a multi-billion dollar bidding war over British ports firm P&O. A DIB statement confirmed that the issue, initially set at $2.8 billion, the largest in history for the first ever convertible Islamic bond, had been increased to $3.5 billion.