Abu Dhabi's Taqa lists nine bonds worth $8.3bn on ADX

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, better known as Taqa, has made a secondary listing of nine bonds valued at $8.25 billion on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the Arab world's second-largest stock market by market value.

The bonds, which will mature between 2023 and 2051, range in size from $500 million to $1.5bn and have issuance tenors ranging from seven years to 30 years, the ADX said on Thursday.

They were largely issued as part of the company’s global medium-term note programme and are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The latest listing takes the number of debt instruments listed on the Abu Dhabi bourse to 37.

Taqa’s listing “demonstrates the robust confidence that fixed-income issuers have in our flourishing debt capital market”, said ADX managing director and chief executive Saeed Al Dhaheri.

“At the same time, we are delighted to be offering market participants a greater range of securities on our exchange as part of our ADX One strategy to enhance market liquidity and attract more international investors,” Mr Al Dhaheri said.

Taqa’s bonds have fixed coupons ranging from 2 per cent to 6.5 per cent, with coupons distributed to investors semi-annually.

The bonds are rated “AA-” by Fitch and Aa2 by Moody’s, the bourse said. “Aa2" is the third-highest long-term credit rating that Moody's assigns to fixed-income securities, denoting their low credit risk.

The listing is an “important milestone … as it provides additional liquidity for local and regional investors and strengthens Abu Dhabi’s debt capital market”, said Jasim Thabet, Taqa’s group chief executive and managing director.

Extending investment opportunities to stakeholders will contribute to the development of the local capital markets “at a time when the UAE is experiencing stable economic growth year on year”.

“With our strong balance sheet and our growth ambitions, we believe that Taqa continues to create value … through a thriving utilities sector,” Mr Thabet said.

Taqa, together with the Emirates Water and Electricity Company, also raised about $700m through its first green bond to diversify funding sources earlier this year.

Its net profit attributable to the equity holders for 2021 rose to about Dh6bn ($1.63bn), from Dh2.8bn during the previous year.

Revenue from oil and gas grew by 78 per cent to Dh7.4bn, raising overall group revenue by 11 per cent to about Dh46bn.