Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Dana Gas, the Middle East’s largest regional natural gas company, on Sunday announced that it has bought back a total of $133 million sukuk of 4% Nile Delta sukuk certificates.

The buyback has slashed the size of the sukuk from $530 million to $397 million and was achieved at an average price of $0.92, Dana said in a statement.

“The Company has now satisfied the commitment to buyback c. $100 million of Sukuk following the consensual restructuring of the Sukuk in 2018 and has also met the threshold amount of outstanding Sukuk which allows the Company to continue to pay the Sukuk profit rate at 4% pa rather than increase to 6% pa,” the UAE-based energy producer highlighted.

Dana will save a total of $21 million by repurchasing the total of $133 million of its Sukuk in the market par and by future profit rates savings on those bought back sukuk, the statement added.

Moreover, the company will make a further saving of $8 million by maintaining the profit rate at 4%.

“The total saving is therefore expected to be $29 million, which is in addition to the significant saving of $35 million per annum achieved at the time of the restructuring,” the statement noted.

Moreover, the company’s board has approved recommendations to repurchase shares.

Dana Gas will seek permission to repurchase up to c. 690 million of Dana Gas shares on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), which would correspond to 10% of the company’s total share capital.

On the other hand, the company’s board proposed a cash dividend payment  worth 5.5 fils per share, a 10% increase compared to the 2018 dividend.

By 11:15 am UAE time, Dana Gas’ stock rose 2.72% at AED 0.87.