– Today a new piece of corporate Sukuk is to going to be underwritten on Iran Fara Bourse. The new Ijarah Sukuk securities will be issued by Saba Naft construction and engineering Co and have a nominal yield of 15%. With a maturity of 48 months and coupon frequency of 3 times per year (quarterly), SN1Q1 securities worth IRR 920 bn (cUSD 21.9 mn).
– A banking official stated that charging higher fees on banking services (mostly transactions of POS, etc.) can lead to lowering interest rates on granted facilities; in fact, he said that in case this process continues for 3 years, the interest rate might come down to 14% and the rate on facilities would also reduce to below 10% in Iranian banking sector. The current imbalanced situation for on-account risk-free deposit rate (20%) and banking facilities (around 28%) led most banks to their incompetence.
– Finally, after rounds of pointless speculations, last night the US president announced his country’s withdrawal from JCPoA. Agah Group analysts broke down its aftermaths on Iran Capital Market. Short term vision is range bounced sessions with no targeted ups and downs waiting for EU response. Meantime, the administration shall devaluate IRR gradually in order to avoid sudden emotional FX mayhem.
– The Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) of Iran’s Issuers Supervision Division released the free float index of listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) and Iran Fara Bourse (IFB) for the one-year period ended March 20th. Over the said period, 7 new companies entered Iran Stock Exchange, including HiWeb, Omid Investment Bank and Shafa Pharmaceutical with their free float rates standing at 6.4%, 3.58% and 0.59%; this event, however, could not exert any significant effect on the total free float index and its average remained in the 20% area. The following table shows the highest and lowest ratios among the first 10 listed companies:
– The Majlis approved an amendment on the General Policies Pertaining to Principle 44 of the Constitution on Wednesday, based on which, Iranian banks & credit institutes, including state and non-governmental banks, established both before and after this law, or state banks whose shares are divested, are only allowed to operate in the form of public joint companies and public joint corporations and up to 10% of their shares can be freely purchased by their owners without needing any permission. Furthermore, the acquisition of shares between 10-20% and 20-33% by the owner is only allowed by the CBI based on the instruction proposed by the CBI and approved by the Money and Credit Council. In addition, the acquisition of other credit institutes’ shares by the owner, who is already in possession of more than 10% of one credit institute, is only possible after the CBI permission.
– The 11th Iran FINEX (financial exhibition) is to take place from tomorrow until Thursday, Mar 19, 2018, on Tehran International exhibition premises with the participation of 392 domestic and foreign finance-related firms. Big international names like EY, Capital Intelligence, Incentage and Alpari group are to not only have booths in Iran FINEX but also carry out educational workshops for Iranian attendees.
– After the other day’s news on USD/IRR Unification, the Central Bank of Iran changed the scheme of Iranian gold coin pre-sales. Following the administration’s decision to return stability to currency and gold markets, CBI’s chair announced that the pre-sale of “Bahar Azadi” coins shall be in line with the following table:
– Following the recent hikes in USD/IRR and eyeing the future of global gold price, the options trades on Iranian gold coin future contracts took a pick on the very first days of the new year. More than 113,191 option contracts worth IRR 21,671 bn (cUSD 473.8 mn) have been sold during the first 3 days of 1397 (2018/19). The spot price of “Bahar Azadi” coins reached IRR +17,000,000 level amid yesterdays’ trade which offers a risk-free arbitrage opportunity of 26.58% profit in six months. CBI recently auctioned pre-sale of gold coins in 6 months and 1-year maturities at IRR 14,000,000 and IRR 15,000,00 levels. Paired with “short position”, an annual yield of 43.31% is not far-fetched. The below table demonstrates the details:
– As a part of President Rouhani’s transportation fleet renewal plan to reduce air pollution and fuel consumption, Iran’s truck fleet is to be renewed, which can pave grounds for resuming correspondent banking relations between Iran and Sweden. As estimated, this plan provides an investment opportunity worth EUR 5 mn, that in case financed by the Swedish party, might go beyond a mere business collaboration. In this regard, a Swedish delegation, made up of practitioners in financial services, insurance, banking, etc. fields, is also planned to pay a visit to the country on April 18th, to sit with members of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.
– Following the recent rise in Iranian gold coin (Bahar Azadi) price, the derivate board of Iran Mercantile Exchange has decided to take margin limits higher for future contracts. According to the news, the initial margin is set to be IRR 17,500,000 for each contract from today (Apr 04, 2018). Counting the additional margin as well, the total figure would be IRR 22,500,000.