DUBAI: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) said yesterday it had no plans to sell Islamic bonds worth $300 million, despite awarding a mandate for the bonds in December 2007.
Two bankers familiar with the transaction told Reuters on Wednesday the country’s second-largest bank by market value was considering selling the bonds this year to refinance existing debt depending on market conditions.
“Qatar Islamic Bank Chief Executive Officer Salah Al-Jaidah ... declared that the released news report has no substance or justification and is totally inaccurate,” the bank said in a statement on the bourse website.
In a statement issued in December after signing a $300 million bridge murabaha loan with ABN Amro and Standard Chartered Bank, Qatar Islamic said it had also awarded a mandate for an Islamic bond sale to the two banks.
“In addition to the bridge financing, the two banks are also mandated for a sukuk issuance on behalf of QIB,” it said in a statement on Dec. 27.
“This sukuk is planned to be issued in 2008 and part of it will be used to reimburse the bridge financing.”
QIB would denominate the sukuk in US dollars and come to the market in the next few weeks, London-based MEED said in an unsourced report on its website on Wednesday.
