London-based Fitch Ratings has assigned a BBB rating to Majid al-Futtaim Group’s updated $1.5bn sukuk issuance programme.

It has also affirmed the same rating on $400m of existing sukuk, which mature in early 2017.

Majid al-Futtaim saw 11 per cent year-on-year growth in turnover in 2014, to AED25bn. It has AED9.1bn in debt, mostly in the form of bonds, sukuk and revolving credit facilities. Fitch identified al-Futtaim’s retail and hotel business as a strength, with retail generating 82 per cent of turnover.

In the first half of 2015 revenue growth slowed to 7 per cent and profits did not increase as the hospitality market slowed.

Al-Futtaim’s high concentration in Dubai is a risk if the market begins to struggle.

The group has an ambitious expansion plan in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and expects to double the size of its business in five years. It will fund the expansion through debt, not equity markets.

It recently opened an expansion to its flagship property, Mall of Emirates.