A DAE aircraft. In the past 12 months, DAE has issued new senior unsecured notes with a combined principal amount of $3.3 billion. Photo: Dubai Aerospace Enterprise
A DAE aircraft. In the past 12 months, DAE has issued new senior unsecured notes with a combined principal amount of $3.3 billion. Photo: Dubai Aerospace Enterprise
A DAE aircraft. In the past 12 months, DAE has issued new senior unsecured notes with a combined principal amount of $3.3 billion. Photo: Dubai Aerospace Enterprise
A DAE aircraft. In the past 12 months, DAE has issued new senior unsecured notes with a combined principal amount of $3.3 billion. Photo: Dubai Aerospace Enterprise

DAE reveals early retirement of $488m of 5.25% senior unsecured notes


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Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, the Middle East's biggest plane lessor, said it delivered a notice of early redemption to holders of the company’s $500 million of 5.25 per cent senior notes due in 2021.

The notes are scheduled to be redeemed on October 15, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The outstanding principal amount of the notes as of the date of the redemption notice was approximately $488m.

"The notes will be redeemed in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable indenture at a redemption price equal to 100 per cent of the principal amount of the notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any," DAE said.

Wells Fargo Bank is the trustee and paying agent for the notes.

In the past 12 months, DAE has issued new senior unsecured notes with a combined principal amount of $3.3 billion, with a weighted average maturity of 4.7 years, it said. The aircraft lessor also redeemed or announced for redemption senior unsecured notes with a combined outstanding principal balance of approximately $2.2bn.

Last month, DAE said it was optimistic but vigilant after posting a lower first-half net profit amid a divergent recovery in air traffic demand across markets, the emergence of new Covid-19 strains and the uneven distribution of vaccines.

Net profit for the first six months through to the end of June dropped to $49m, from $121.7m in the same period a year earlier. First-half revenue also fell to $613.4m, from $675.9m a year earlier.

Available liquidity at the end of the first six months of the year climbed to $4.09bn, from $2.69bn a year earlier. Operating cash flow rose to $498.5m from $432.2m for the period while fleet use also improved marginally to 99.1 per cent, the company said at the time.

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Museum of the Future in numbers
  •  78 metres is the height of the museum
  •  30,000 square metres is its total area
  •  17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
  •  14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
  •  1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior 
  •  7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
  •  2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
  •  100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
  •  Dh145 is the price of a ticket

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl

Transmission: eight-speed auto

Power: 190bhp

Torque: 300Nm

Price: Dh169,900

On sale: now 

Updated: September 14, 2021, 4:17 PM