Saudi remains key center for IPOs 

(MENAFN - Arab News) The second quarter of this year saw the GCC financial markets put up a show of considerable resilience in the face of elevated global economic uncertainty as the euro zone crisis deteriorated.

In spite of recurrent volatility, regional trading and issuance conditions were marked by considerable continuity as compared to the far less stressful opening months of the year, reflecting the emerging consensus that the GCC is now one of the relatively safe havens in the global financial markets.

This stability was particularly evident in the area of bank credit where continued growth in much of the region was underpinned by favorable macroeconomic conditions. Positive progress looks set to continue although signs are multiplying that last year's post-crisis rebound in many countries may be gradually giving way to more stable market conditions. Even though especially Saudi inter-bank rates have edged up, largely in reflection of the growing demand for credit, the regional banks are strong and liquidity conditions benign. The UAE and Kuwait continue to lag behind, however, due to a combination of largely country-specific factors.

The performance of the regional equity markets provided a study in contrasts. In the words of Chief Economist Jarmo T. Kotilaine of the National Commercial Bank, "The regional bourses reacted sharply to the external uncertainty during Q2 with both valuations and trading volumes hit virtually across the board.

In spite of this, new IPO activity reached its highest level since Q2, 2009, 1.1 billion, although the number of new offerings was only four. While it may be too soon to speak of a trend, signs are multiplying that the long period of minimal activity in the regional IPO space may now be over." Even as the regional secondary markets lost much of the gains they had made during the opening months of the year, both in terms of valuations and volumes, Q2 came to account for a lion's share of the primary offerings during the first half of the year. In the aggregate, H1, 2012 saw six IPOs worth 1.2 billion.

Saudi Arabia remains by far the dominant center of IPO activity in the region, accounting for three of the four offering in Q2 and five of the six in H1, 2012. A 31 percent rally on Tadawul between November and April, accompanied by a sharp rise in volumes, helped create auspicious conditions for new offerings. The only other GCC market to see primary activity was Oman - the only other regional stock market to have experienced any IPOs during the past year. Saudi issuance in Q2 totaled 945.6 million in value whereas the one Omani IPO was worth 159.0 million.

After two strong quarters, conventional bond issuance in the GCC was hit in Q2 by the external market stress. Nonetheless, significant new activity did take place, with considerable foreign investor interest in the international issues.

Moreover, during a time of a relative retreat by corporates, the quarter saw a landmark 1.5 billion issue by Bahrain while Oman and Kuwait continued their ongoing bond issuance. All in all, the quarter witnessed 22 GCC conventional bond issues with maturities in excess of a year. Their aggregate value reached 4.6 billion, roughly equally split between corporate ( 2.2 billion) and sovereign ( 2.4 billion) issuance.

Although this total was somewhat down on the Q1 2012 figure of 5.9 billion, the performance of the market must be deemed generally impressive in view of the external conditions. In the words of Kotilaine, "While it is clear that Western investors were active buyers of GCC issues, important development took place also on the supply side. In particular, there are growing indications of bonds increasingly playing a role as the classic tire 'reserve tire' As some jurisdictions continue to face restrictions in the area of bank funding, bond issuance is in many cases services as an alternative.

For instance, the UAE central bank has imposed more restrictive rules on bank lending to government-related entities, pushing more of them to the capital market."

The sukuk market has remained one of the brightest spots of the GCC financial sector over the past quarter. Although overall issuance in Q2 fell short of the volumes seen in the opening months of the year, many of the positive trends observed during the past year have not only continued but also been further consolidated. New types of issuers are tapping the market and activity has resumed even in the sovereign segment as Dubai tapped the Shariah-compliant market with a highly successful government sukuk.

Q2 saw a total of nine issues of more than a year with an aggregate value of 5.0 billion. This was down on Q1 issuance of 8.3 billion but ahead of the 3.3 billion seen in Q4 2011. In a departure from the commanding Saudi dominance during Q1, Saudi and UAE issuers were almost equally important. Three UAE names placed a total of 2.4 billion in the market while Saudi Arabia (including the Jeddah-domiciled Islamic Development Bank) saw a total of five issues worth just under 2.4 billion. Global sukuk issuance during the quarter rose to 23.9 billion, down on 35.3 billion in Q1, with Malaysia remaining the dominant sukuk market internationally.

The regional secondary markets were characterized by relatively benign trading conditions throughout the quarter in spite of external market stress. Both the bond and sukuk yields have remained at historically low levels, even if temporary spikes attest to the continued sensitivity to exogenous shocks.

Sukuk have continued to enjoy an edge over conventional bonds, marking their increasingly established popularity as an asset class and a perceived relative safe haven. "Most issuers are high-quality names and the resilience of the market has benefited from clustering around popular structures as well as a greater understanding of how to deal with problem situations.

Moreover, tighter spreads have made the sukuk market more competitive as more banks target the asset class. A further impetus to the regional markets has come from the continued improvement of conditions in Dubai and Bahrain, which have tended to be seen as the riskiest jurisdictions. In Dubai, the most challenging near-term refinancing/restructuring operations have been successfully dealt with," noted Kotilaine.

Alternative sources of capital remain important, but a clear reallocation is under way. Although the regional governments continue to play a key role in supporting economic activity, including large investment projects, their role seems to be becoming somewhat less central. Sovereign funds have retreated as banks and bonds/sukuk have come to the fore. Also foreign direct investment flows have been hit due to global and regional factors.

Private equity activity remains subdued, even though expressions of interest seem to be multiplying. The reshaping of the regional syndicated loans market appears to be continuing with European banks generally expected to play a less central role than in the past.

By contrast, the regional lenders are clearly stepping to the plate and filling some of the vacuum. In particular Saudi banks have reached a historic record in loans syndications, arranging an estimated total of 4.2 billion in the first five months of the year. Overall loan syndications during the quarter reached approximately 20.4 billion.

Activity was dominated by Saudi Arabia, which accounted for 49 percent of the total, followed by the UAE's 41 percent share.