Mannai Corp gets nod for $600mn bond issuance

01/03/2018 06:12 AST

Mannai Corporation's shareholders yesterday accorded approval to its $600mn (QR2.18bn) bond, which is expected to hit the market by the second week of April.

The Qatari company, which last year bought Gfi Informatique, will make presentations in Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Zurich and Geneva for the bonds, whose proceeds would be used for corporate purposes, including refinancing the debt taken for purchasing Gfi Informatique.

"It is expected that the bonds will constitute perpetual instruments with no fixed maturity date, redeemable at the company's option on certain specified dates. The bonds are expected to be listed on the Irish Stock Exchange," Mannai chairman Hamad bin Abdulla bin Khalifa al-Thani told shareholders yesterday at the extraordinary general assembly.

Alekh Grewal, Mannai director and group chief executive, said the bonds are expected be launched by the second week of April and "at present we are doing due diligence with the banks and lawyers."

The coupon for the bond, with five-year maturity, has not been decided and would not be pre-determined but would depend on the bids of the investors, he said.

The bonds would not be offered to the public in Qatar, Mannai had earlier said in a regulatory filing with the Qatar Stock Exchange. Ruling out any further acquisitions for the time being, Grewal said the company is now focused on harnessing the value from Gfi Informatique. Gfi Informatique is a major player in value-added IT services and software in Europe, and occupies a strategic position in its differentiated approach to global firms and niche entities. It has eight shared service centres, four of which are in France and the rest in Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Poland. The group has over 40 offices in France and presence in eight additional countries.

Gfi, which successfully integrated the international operations of both Roff (Portugal) and Efron (Spain) acquired at the end of 2016, has reported more than 16% growth year-on-year in net profit to ?37.3mn and revenues by about 12% to ?1.1bn in 2017.

Mannai Corporation increased its shareholding in Gfi Informatique to 81.21% and consolidated its results from July 2017, which helped balance the decline in earnings from its other businesses.

2017 profit at QR506mn; 40% cash dividend recommended Mannai Corporation has reported a net profit of QR506mn in 2017 despite difficult market conditions in the region. The company, whose turnover was QR7.04bn in 2017, has recommended 40% cash dividend, which has to be approved by shareholders at an annual general assembly meeting to be held on March 21.

The group recorded Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of QR850mn and a pre-tax profit of QR553mn in 2017. Earnings-per-share was QR11.09 at the end of December 31, 2017.

"The company's strategy of diversifying its earnings geographically and across different business segments has enabled the company to maintain its level of profits and is well positioned to take advantage of its diverse capabilities across the various business segments and geographies," Mannai said.

Gulf Times