05 October 2010
Malaysia was the most active sukuk market in September, but the GCC is expected to see increased activity from October, writes Adnan Halawi. 

September Issues

The month of September saw USD4.4 billion of sukuk issuances, compared to USD4.05 billion in September of last year and USD4.46 billion a month earlier. Almost 98% of the sukuk issued in September came out of Malaysia. This is expected to change in October and the following months as benchmark-sized sukuk are expected to be issued out of the GCC and other parts of the world.

Zawya's Sukuk quarterly bulletin for 3Q, 2010 issued on October 1, showed USD27.857 billion were issued in Islamic sukuk globally in the first nine months of 2010, an increase of 62% from the same period last year.

The most significant issues in September came from Malaysia's Celcom Transmission which issued MYR4.4 billion (USD1.36 billion) program in full on September 1. AmIslamic Bank also issued MYR500 (USD177 million), part of its 30-year MYR3 billion Senior Sukuk program on September 20.

On September 7, Padiberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas) issued a MYR400 (USD129 million) million sukuk part of its MYR750 million sukuk program while Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas issued a MYR525 million (USD169 million) sukuk part of its MYR1.5 billion Sukuk program.