MANAMA - Bahrain-based Albaraka Banking Group BARKA.BH will issue Islamic bonds worth $300 million by the end of April to fund expansion, the firm’s chief executive said on Thursday.
President and chief executive Adnan Yousif told Reuters Standard Chartered STAN.L was advising the group on the issue. However, Albaraka has not yet picked arrangers, who are likely to be international banks, Yousif said.
The bond’s tenure will be between three and five years, and pricing details have yet to be decided, he added.
Albaraka has recently finished opening five branches in Syria, and is eying Indonesia and Malaysia for further expansion. The bank has subsidiaries in ten countries.
In a statement posted on the Bahrain bourse’s Web site on Thursday, the bank said it had made a net profit of $123.72 million in 2006, up 20.25 percent from 2005.
The bank also said it had approved to pay shareholder dividends worth a total $12 million and issue one bonus share for every 30 held.