On 12 August 2009, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange admitted to trading a sukuk issue and a bond issue from Petroliam Nasional (Petronas), the state-owned oil and gas company of Malaysia, for a total amount issued of USD 4.5 billion.
The bond issue (ISIN: USY68856AH99) was for an amount of USD 3 billion. It is in the form of guaranteed notes and will bear interest of 5.25% per annum, with a maturity in August 2019. The proceeds of the issue will be used to finance oil and gas development activities and for general corporate purposes.
Sukuk are Islamic fixed income securities that allow companies and other organisations to raise capital in a manner that is Sharia-compliant. The Petronas sukuk issue (ISIN: USY68856AG17) was for an amount of USD 1.5 billion, with a 4.25% annual coupon and is due in August 2014. It follows a sukuk al-ijara structure and the proceeds will be used to purchase beneficial ownership of assets of some of Petronas’ wholly-owned subsidiaries as part of a sale and leaseback arrangement.
Both issues were admitted to trading on the Euro MTF market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
This dual admission of a sukuk and bond issue is further evidence of the expertise and experience of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange in the listing of all types of securities. It has long been the Europe’s leading stock Exchange for listing international bonds, as well as being an important global centre for sukuk and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs). The Luxembourg Stock Exchange has been listing sukuk instruments since 2002 for a total amount issued of around USD 7.3 billion.