Dubai's Tamweel eyes $300-500m sukuk in Q4

Islamic mortgage lender Tamweel , whose shares resumed trading in May, will issue a $300-$500 million sukuk, or Islamic bond, in the fourth quarter, the acting chief executive of the Dubai-based company said on Tuesday. "The plan is to be out with something in the last quarter," Varun Sood told reporters at a property event in Dubai, adding the sukuk could be priced in dollars or Malaysian ringgit. "We are keeping multiple options open with conditions in the market being what they are." "There is demand for Islamic paper so that is basically what we are banking on." Dubai Islamic Bank raised its stake in Tamweel to 57.33 percent last September, effectively rendering the mortgage lender a subsidiary of the bank. "Being part of Dubai Islamic Bank there is no issue of liquidity but at the same time we are required to be a self sustaining business." Tamweel has appointed three banks for the sukuk, but Sood declined to give further details. The UAE government said in November 2008 it aimed to merge Tamweel and rival Amlak after the collapse of Dubai's real estate sector pushed both Islamic lenders deep into the red. That plan was effectively scrapped after the DIB deal with Tamweel and resolution for Amlak has yet to be announced. Tamweel reported a second-quarter net profit of AED27.7 million ($7.5 million) compared with AED5.4 million in the same period last year.