Bank Muscat, the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate, has proposed 35 per cent dividend for the year 2017. Continuing the bank’s strong dividend payment track record, the Board of Directors has proposed 30 per cent cash dividend for the year 2017 which is consistent with the cash dividend paid in the last many years. In addition, 5 per cent dividend in the form of bonus shares has been proposed. The bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) post the cash dividend payout will be 18.56 per cent which is well above the regulatory minimum of 13.65 per cent.
The meeting of the Board of Directors chaired by Shaikh Khalid bin Mustahail al Mashani, Chairman, on Monday, January 29, 2017, approved the 2017 financial results and dividend payout, subject to approval of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and shareholders of the bank.
Shareholders would receive cash dividend of RO 0.030 per ordinary share of RO 0.100 each aggregating to RO 81.281 million on Bank’s existing share capital. In addition they would receive bonus shares in the proportion of 1 share for every 20 ordinary shares aggregating to 135,468,092 shares of RO 0.100 each amounting to RO 13.547 million. The proposed cash dividend is subject to formal approval of the Annual General Meeting of shareholders and regulatory authorities.
The Bank posted net profit of RO 176.82 million for the period compared to RO 176.56 million reported during the same period in 2016, an increase of 0.1 per cent. Net Interest Income from Conventional Banking and Income from Islamic Financing stood at RO 281.34 million for the year 2017 compared to RO 274.15 million for the same period in 2016, an increase of 2.6 per cent.
Non-interest income at RO 154.62 million was higher by 8.9 per cent compared to RO 142.03 million for the year ended 31st December 2016. This includes one-off investment gain of RO 12.8 million on sale of certain investments. Operating expenses for the year ended 31st December 2017 at RO 184.08 million was higher by 5.7 per cent as compared to RO 174.08 million for the same period in 2016. Impairment for credit losses for the year was RO 63.15 million as against RO 70.29 million for the same period in 2016. Recoveries from impairment for credit loss was RO 41.17 million for the year as against RO 36.24 million for the same period in 2016. Share of income from an associate for the year was RO 2.44 million against RO 1.73 million for the same period in 2016.
Net Loans and advances including Islamic financing receivables increased by 4.7 per cent to RO 8,329 million as against RO 7,957 million as at 31st December 2016. Customer deposits including Islamic Customer deposits decreased by 0.5 per cent to RO 7,419 million as against RO 7,458 million as at 31st December 2016. The basic earnings per share was RO 0.064 in 2017 and 2016.
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