Emirates NBD sells Dh1bn loans to Japanese



Emirates NBD, the UAE's largest bank, plans to sell about Dh1 billion (US$272.2 million) of car loans to Japan. The complex transaction effectively puts money in Emirates NBD coffers at a lower rate of interest than it could get in the market, Rick Pudner, the bank's chief executive, said yesterday.

Finding financing for banks has become harder and more expensive during the financial crisis as capital markets have tightened, spurring large lenders to search for innovative new ways to raise money. The car loans, taken out by Emirates NBD customers in the UAE, are bundled and chopped up into securities that are then used as collateral for bonds issued in Japan. The process is similar to that used to create collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) that came to the fore in the US home loan market before the global downturn.

The proposed deal with Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC), which involves loans covering about 22,000 cars, comes as the UAE's car market begins to show signs of recovery after a year-long slump. Car imports through Abu Dhabi fell by 50 per cent in the first half of last year as sales slowed and dealerships halted new deliveries. But vehicles handled at the emirate's Mina Zayed port in the first half of this year stood at 32,177, a gain of more than 62 per cent from the same period last year, Abu Dhabi Terminals said yesterday.

"We don't see a conservative approach to orders like we did in 2009," said James Crichton, the regional director for the Middle East for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Giving Emirates NBD room to make more loans could also be a boon for the Japanese since many customers are likely to use those loans to buy cars imported from the country's giant car industry. About 66 per cent of cars in the UAE are Japanese, according to a report last year by Automechanika Middle East. Japanese manufacturers exported 486,990 cars to the Middle East in the year to the end of March, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

JBIC representatives in Dubai declined to comment because the deal has not been approved by the body's board of directors. Citigroup is presenting the plan to Japanese investors to gauge demand, an exercise that will determine whether it goes through and what rates of interest will be attached to the JBIC bonds. "The auto loan securitisation is a project we've been working on for a few months," Mr Pudner said. "We're building up parts of our auto loan portfolio to form part of the meat of this programme."

The loans are to be packaged as a security and sold to the JBIC, a public body that promotes international financial ties. The JBIC then plans to sell bonds backed by UAE car loans to Japanese investors. Moody's this month gave the securities a provisional "Aa2" rating, one of its highest. "Emirates NBD is pretty much out there pioneering this thing," said Khalid Howladar, a vice president at Moody's Investors Service who evaluated the deal. "It actually works very well. It works for the Japanese and it works for Emirates NBD."

The securitisation is one way Emirates NBD is responding to the strains of the crisis and Dubai's well-publicised struggles with debt at state-owned companies. The bank said second-quarter profits fell 52.7 per cent to Dh402.6m, compared with Dh852m for the same period last year. It set aside major provisions for the first half in anticipation of write-downs on loans to Dubai World, the government-owned conglomerate that is nearing a final deal on its $23.5bn debt restructuring.

Janany Vamadeva, an analyst at Al Futtaim HC Securities in Dubai, said the bank's core performance was strong despite Dh1.19bn of overall impairment losses on loans and investments in the second quarter.

afitch@thenational.ae

igale@thenational.ae

* with reporting by Armina Ligaya

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Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.

Based: Riyadh

Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany

Founded: September, 2020

Number of employees: 70

Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions

Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds  

Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices

How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers

Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.

It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.

The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.

Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.

Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.

He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.

AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”

A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.

Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.

Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.

Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.

By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.

Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.

In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”

Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.

She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.

Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

if you go

The flights

Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return. 

The trek

Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required. 

The specs

Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
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THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

FIXTURES

Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan

The top two teams qualify for the World Cup

Classification matches 
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.

Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place play-off

Company profile: buybackbazaar.com

Name: buybackbazaar.com

Started: January 2018

Founder(s): Pishu Ganglani and Ricky Husaini

Based: Dubai

Sector: FinTech, micro finance

Initial investment: $1 million

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding