Bahraini investment house Arcapita on Sunday signed a new $200 million loan, signaling that debt markets are opening up to the troubled sector, and said it expected a sizable loss for this year.

Bahrain's investment houses have been badly hit by the financial crisis and a regional property down-turn, and some of them had to revert to rights issues to shore up their balance sheets as debt capital markets remained largely shut.

Arcapita said in a statement it had signed the $200 million loan facility with Standard Chartered, which it would use to strengthen its balance sheet and for general corporate purposes.   

It did not provide any further details such as the tenor of the facility.

Arcapita posted total losses of $190 million for the first two quarters of its current financial year that ends June 30 due to a slump in income from placement fees and lower asset valuations.

Chief executive Atif Abdulmalik said in Sunday's statement he expected a full-year loss for the company. 'Although we expect that further fair value adjustments will result in the bank booking a sizable financial loss for this financial year, we believe the steps we are taking now will help us return to profitability next year,' he said.

The company has plans to build a fund management business to compliment its private equity operations with a more stable source of income. -Reuters