First Islamic Euro Sukuk issue Oversubscribed

The Sukuk issue, known as First Islamic Registered Aman Euro Notes (Euro FIRSAN), was oversubscribed by €25 million. LMC is acting as the Sukuk Manager for Euro FIRSAN.

Abdulaziz Aljomaih, First Islamic's Vice Chairman, said "We are pleased with the strong response to First Islamic's Euro FIRSAN offering, which constitutes the Bank's second Sukuk issue following an equally successful $100 million offering in April 2003. Both issues have been aimed at further strengthening First Islamic's balance sheet and providing financing for its increased investment activities in the European market. We appreciate the support provided by LMC, which has contributed significantly to the success of this offering."

Hussein Al Meeza, Chairman of LMC, said, "First Islamic is one of the most innovative financial institutions in the region, and we are pleased to support the Bank's ongoing expansion into the European market. The strength of the Bank and the investment opportunities it offers are no better reflected than by the impressive investor response, which saw the size of the offering increase from an initial €50 million to €75 million in order to accommodate strong investor demand."

Atif A. Abdulmalik, First Islamic's Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are close to completing our first European corporate investment and the proceeds from the Euro FIRSAN offering will enable us to significantly increase our deal flow in Europe, where we continue to seek and identify compelling opportunities for our Bank and regional investors."

Headquartered in Bahrain with offices in Atlanta and London, First Islamic's three principal lines of business are corporate investment, real estate and asset-based investment. To date, the Bank has completed 31 transactions with a total value of almost $6.0 billion and has an equity capital base in excess of $300 million. First Islamic's mission is to provide innovative and distinctive Shari'ah compliant investment opportunities that generate superior risk-adjusted returns.

LMC was established in July 2002 as a Bahraini Joint Stock Company with an Islamic Investment Banking License to enable Islamic financial institutions to manage their liquidity through short and medium term liquid investments within Shari'ah guidelines. LMC is now an active player in the secondary market for short term Shari'ah compliant treasury products across the GCC region, and has the capability to arrange Islamic investment instruments of varying risk and return profiles at different tenors.