Dubai promotes bond in London

Dubai government officials will meet with international investors in London today and tomorrow ahead of a planned benchmark bond sale, the emirate's media office said in a statement. The joint book-runners are Emirates NBD PJSC, HSBC Plc. Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS AG, it said. The Government of Dubai plans to raise up to $5 billion (Dh18.4 billion) under a Euro Medium Term Note, or EMTN, programme, as it looks to bridge its budget deficit and finance growth, according to the emirate's new base prospectus. Dubai said on Thursday it plans to test credit-market sentiment again and issue a dollar-denominated, benchmark-sized bond under its existing EMTN programme, amid signs that confidence in Dubai's economic fundamentals is slowly returning. The emirate has mandated UBS, RBS and Emirates NBD as joint lead managers for the new issue. The Dubai government set up a $4 billion EMTN programme in April 2008, which it subsequently updated in October 2009 and September 2010. Under this programme, the emirate has already raised Dh6.5 billion ($1.77 billion) in 2008 and $1.25 billion in 2010. "The net proceeds from the issue of each tranche of notes will be applied by the issuer for infrastructure, financing and general budgetary purposes," according to the emirate's base prospectus issued on June 10. The Government of Dubai said in the prospectus it expects an overall budget deficit of Dh3.8 billion in 2011 as it sees revenues of Dh29.9 billion, and total expenditure at Dh33.7 billion. Dubai's new debt issue plans come just a week after Emirates airline launched a five-year, $1 billion bond that received high levels of investor interest. The announcement by Dubai World, the government-owned conglomerate, that it had secured full approval from creditors to restructure $25 billion in debt earlier this year has helped rebuild some confidence in Dubai and its ability to manage its debt pile, which some analysts estimate to stand at as much as $110 billion. The total outstanding external term borrowings of the Government of Dubai stood at $31.4 billion as on May 20, 2011, in addition to which the government has financial contingencies and extended guarantees, according to an investor presentation made Friday by the emirate's department of finance. Dubai has appointed Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International, Standard Chartered and UBS Investment Bank as arrangers and dealers for the EMTN programme. From / Gulf News