Fitch affirms ‘A+’ rating for Emirates Islamic

Wednesday 03 August 2016
Jamal Bin Ghalaita

Dubai - MENA Herald: Emirates Islamic, one of the leading Islamic financial institutions in the UAE, has announced that Fitch, the New York and London-headquartered global ratings agency, has affirmed the bank’s ‘A+’ rating.
For the second consecutive year, Fitch has assigned Emirates Islamic a Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (LT IDR) of ‘A+’ with a Stable Outlook, Short-Term IDR (ST IDR) of 'F1', and a Viability Rating (VR) at 'bb-'. The rating agency has also affirmed the bank’s Support Rating of '1'.
Commenting on the rating, Jamal Bin Ghalaita, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Islamic, said: “The affirmation of our ratings underlines Emirates Islamic’s position as a strategic component in the growth of the Islamic financial services industry in the UAE. Despite current market conditions, the bank has demonstrated sustained growth across segments and our financial results in the first half of 2016 reflect the bank’s growth potential. The successful issuance of our record breaking Sukuk recently is a clear indicator of the bank’s strong credit fundamentals and our investors’ tremendous confidence in our ability to grow further. Fuelled by product innovation and investment in the latest technology, we continue to make strides in our journey to become the clear leader in the Islamic banking sector.”
In May this year, Emirates Islamic closed the issuance of a US$ 750 million 5-year Sukuk from its US$ 2.5 billion Certificate Issuance Programme. The Sukuk, which is listed on Nasdaq Dubai and the Irish Stock Exchange, received overwhelming investor interest from across the globe and was oversubscribed by nearly 3 times.
Emirates Islamic was named the Fastest Growing Bank – UAE at the recent Banker Middle East Industry Awards 2016, in recognition of its exceptional growth in 2015. The bank was also recognised among Global Finance’s 2016 ‘The Innovators’ of Islamic Finance for EI trade, the world’s first of its kind Shari’a-compliant online Trade Finance and Supply Chain platform. In addition, Emirates Islamic was named Best Retail Bank – UAE, Best Commercial Bank – UAE and Best Wealth Management – ME at CPI Financial’s Islamic Business & Finance Awards.

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