Saudi Arabia's Almarai to sell second tranche of Islamic bonds

Almarai, the Saudi Arabian company that operates a venture with PepsiCo, plans to sell a second tranche of Islamic sukuk for 2.3 billion Saudi riyals.

Proceeds from the sale will help finance a capital investment program of 15.7bn riyals, according to a statement by the company on the Saudi stock exchange. Almarai, the biggest food producer in the Arabian Gulf by market value, issued 1bn riyals of sukuk in March 2012, according to the statement.

In May, Almarai approved a 15.7bn-riyal, five-year investment program to boost output and develop products. The company posted a 29 per cent increase in fourth-quarter earnings in January to 369 million riyals driven by a strong performance in bakery and poultry, as well as the consolidation of International Dairy & Juice

* Bloomberg News