Fitch beefs up Tamweel Residential

Fitch Ratings, one of the "Big three credit rating agencies" along with Standard & Poor's, Moody's Investor Service, has upgraded Tamweel Residential. The rating actions are driven by the collateral pool's good performance, the stabilising performance of the Dubai property market and the upgrade of the servicer and originator, Tamweel PJSC. Tamweel's rating was upgraded following Dubai Islamic Bank acquiring a controlling interest in the company. The transaction funds a portfolio of Sharia-compliant property leases due from mainly non-Dubai nationals working in the Emirate. The notes funding the portfolio have already amortized to 15 per cent of their initial balance. Since inception, there have not been any reported defaults. Fitch believes that this is due to the nature of the lease contracts, which allow the lessees to terminate the contracts voluntarily without further payment obligation. To date, 334 of initially 595 properties have been sold or repurchased. The generated proceeds have accounted for 62 per cent of collateral collections and are continuing to fund a large portion of note payments. As of June 2011, the collateral pool totals 254 leases. Tamweel returned to profitability in 2010 on the back of declining provisions and improved funding costs. Earnings could strengthen further after Tamweel resumed lending in Q111 after a two-year delay.