First Abu Dhabi Bank issued a Dh1.4bn formosa bond in June. Chris Whiteoak / The National
First Abu Dhabi Bank issued a Dh1.4bn formosa bond in June. Chris Whiteoak / The National
First Abu Dhabi Bank issued a Dh1.4bn formosa bond in June. Chris Whiteoak / The National
First Abu Dhabi Bank issued a Dh1.4bn formosa bond in June. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Abu Dhabi's FAB raises Dh1.8bn through Chinese yuan formosa bond


Mary Sophia
  • English
  • Arabic

First Abu Dhabi Bank, the UAE’s largest lender by assets, has raised 3.6 billion Chinese yuan (Dh1.8bn) through the sale of a five-year formosa bond.

The issue is the largest denominated in Chinese yuan globally, FAB said in a statement on Tuesday. Formosa deals refer to bonds issued in Taiwan by foreign borrowers, but are denominated in currencies other than the Taiwanese dollar.

The lender said it had upsized the issuance from 3.25bn Chinese yuan to 3.6bn Chinese yuan.

“The deal exceeded our expectations in terms of size and reflects Asian investors’ strong faith in FAB’s credit fundamentals and Abu Dhabi’s economic strength,” said Rula Al Qadi, head of group funding at FAB.

“Our ability to access niche markets at short notice and to take advantage of opportunistic funding levels gives us a major advantage in funding.”

FAB’s latest debt deal comes after it issued a Dh1.4bn formosa bond in June, which was the largest formosa bond in the Middle East and North Africa at the time of issuance.

Gulf lenders, including FAB, have been actively tapping the bond markets this year to take advantage of lower interest rate globally amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In February, FAB said it raised Dh3bn in two separate bond issuances over three days.

The lender sold a three-year, £450m (Dh2.15bn) bond, which was the first and largest issuance in sterling from a financial institution in the Middle East, as well as a A$350m (Dh860m) five-year Kangaroo bond, its first in Australia since 2014.

The bank also issued a $500m sukuk earlier this year, for which the order book topped $1bn.

FAB, formed in 2017 through the merger of National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank, reported a 25 per cent drop in its second quarter net income, dragged down by a rise in provisions amid the pandemic-driven economic slowdown.

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Genesis G80 2020 5.0-litre Royal Specs

Engine: 5-litre V8

Gearbox: eight-speed automatic

Power: 420hp

Torque: 505Nm

Fuel economy, combined: 12.4L/100km

Price: Dh260,500

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Empty Words

By Mario Levrero  

(Coffee House Press)
 

Winners

Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)

Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)

Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)

Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)

Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)

Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)

Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)

Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)

RESULTS

Light Flyweight (48kg): Alua Balkibekova (KAZ) beat Gulasal Sultonalieva (UZB) by points 4-1.

Flyweight (51kg): Nazym Kyzaibay (KAZ) beat Mary Kom (IND) 3-2.

Bantamweight (54kg): Dina Zholaman (KAZ) beat Sitora Shogdarova (UZB) 3-2.

Featherweight (57kg): Sitora Turdibekova (UZB) beat Vladislava Kukhta (KAZ) 5-0.

Lightweight (60kg): Rimma Volossenko (KAZ) beat Huswatun Hasanah (INA) KO round-1.

Light Welterweight (64kg): Milana Safronova (KAZ) beat Lalbuatsaihi (IND) 3-2.

Welterweight (69kg): Valentina Khalzova (KAZ) beat Navbakhor Khamidova (UZB) 5-0

Middleweight (75kg): Pooja Rani (IND) beat Mavluda Movlonova (UZB) 5-0.

Light Heavyweight (81kg): Farida Sholtay (KAZ) beat Ruzmetova Sokhiba (UZB) 5-0.

Heavyweight (81 kg): Lazzat Kungeibayeva (KAZ) beat Anupama (IND) 3-2.

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Brief scores:

England: 290 & 346

Sri Lanka: 336 & 243

The specs

Price, base / as tested Dh1,100,000 (est)

Engine 5.2-litre V10

Gearbox seven-speed dual clutch

Power 630bhp @ 8,000rpm

Torque 600Nm @ 6,500rpm

Fuel economy, combined 15.7L / 100km (est) 

BMW M5 specs

Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

Torque: 1,000Nm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh650,000

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?

1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

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4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

The figures behind the event

1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew

2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show

3) 1,000 social distancing stickers

4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue

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