Barwa secures $190mn loan, eyes sukuk

FUNDING INVESTMENT: Barwa has secured a $190 million Islamic loan and is planning to go ahead with a sukuk early next year. (Getty Images)

Qatar's Barwa Real Estate said on Tuesday it had signed a 700 million dirham ($190.6 million) Islamic loan to fund investments and projects and plans to go ahead with an Islamic bond sale by early 2009.

Barwa, an affiliate of the state-owned Qatar Investment Authority's $40 billion property wing, secured the loan from Badr Al-Islami, the Islamic banking arm of Dubai-based Mashreq, it said in a statement on the bourse website.

"[The loan] will provide financial cover for the company's projects and investments," Barwa said.

Adel Farouk, head of structured finance at Barwa told newswire Reuters the developer opted for a three-year dirham-denominated loan due to lower costs. He declined to give pricing details.

Barwa, whose international arm last week said it would invest $2 billion in Libyan real estate, plans to go ahead with an Islamic bond sale worth at least $700 million by the end of this year or early next year, although it would depend on market conditions, Farouk said.

The Islamic bonds, or sukuk, would be used to refinance an existing $700 million loan taken out in December, which has a one-year extension option, Farouk said.

Islam bans lending on interest and in a murabaha deal a lender buys a commodity and sells it to the consumer at a higher price, locking in profit.

Government-owned Qatari Diar Real Estate & Investment Co owns 45 percent of Barwa.

Shares of Barwa, which operates according to Islamic law, were up 1.43 percent at 0800 GMT. The stock is up 86 percent this year, outperforming the main Doha benchmark which has gained almost 24 percent to Monday's close.

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