RAM Ratings sees DanaInfra’s sukuk issuance to rise sharply in 2018

The RM50m contract for Metronic Global is more than 125% of its latest annual published consolidated revenue.

KUALA LUMPUR: RAM Ratings expects quasi-government heavyweights, led by Danainfra Nasional Bhd to increase its issuance of Islamic debt notes or sukuk significantly in 2018.

The rating agency’s head of Islamic finance Ruslena Ramli said on Wednesday the significant increase would be “driven by the funding requirements for the MRT Line 2 and the Pan Borneo Highway”.

RAM Ratings’ observed that other quasi-government heavyweights including Lembaga Pembiayaan Sektor Awam and Prasarana Malaysia Berhad supported Malaysia’s local-currency (LCY) sukuk issuance. 

The LCY sukuk issuance totalled RM168.7bil in 2017, surpassing RAM’s full-year projection of RM100bil to RM120bil. 

RAM’s latest edition of the Sukuk Snapshot highlights that on the international front, the volume of global sukuk issuance also exceeded RAM’s projection of US$85bil to US$90bil for 2017, having swelled 33.6% on-year to US$97.3bil (2016: US$72.9bil). 

This was bolstered by a 144.5% (or US$46.6bil) spike in issuances from Gulf Cooperation Council countries. 

Notably, Malaysia maintained its leadership with US$36.5bil of global sukuk issuance, followed by Saudi Arabia (US$31.7bil), Indonesia (US$6.9bil), and Qatar (US$5.6bil), RAM said.