The bond and sukuk market had a poor start to the year in the GCC with total issuance down by 18.7 per cent to $37.6 billion, according to a report by the Kuwait Financial Centre, Markaz.

The month of June predominated in terms of issuance frequency with 32 issues though May witnessed the highest value at $7.3 billion, the report said.

The total amount outstanding of corporate and sovereign bonds issued by GCC entities has now reached $205.6 billion.

Corporate bonds make up the majority of the total amount outstanding with $138.3 billion or 67.2 per cent of the total amount. Sovereign issuances amount to $67.4 billion.

Of the amount outstanding as of June 30, $135.6 billion or 65.9 per cent will mature over the course of the next five years.

A total of $13.8 billion was raised by the central banks of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman with the Central Bank of Kuwait securing the highest amount at $6.5 billion, representing 47.2 per cent of the total.

Corporate issuances dominated the amount raised with $18 billion representing 75.8 per cent of the market.

The value of sovereign issuances at $5.73 billion was well ahead of the first half of 2011 which saw just $1.59 billion raised on the markets.

The financial services sector accounted for the largest amount raised during the first half of the year with $8.6 billion through 58 issuances.

GCC bonds and sukuk issuances during the first half had issue sizes ranging from $3.8 million to $3.9 billion. Bonds and sukuk with issue sizes equal to or greater than $1 billion dominated the market. – TradeArabia News Service