Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

MSM30 continues to gain ahead of Eid holidays

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The MSM30 ended the week up by 1.5 per cent at 3934.15. All sub-indices closed up led by both the Financial Index and the Services Index (+1.10 per cent) followed by Industrial Index (+0.06 per cent). The MSM Shariah Index closed up by 1.16 per cent w-o-w.


Omantel management announced the following in its 1Q19 financial report.


Omantel sees a more aggressive competitive behaviour between existing players, putting additional pressure on revenue growth and margins. This is impacting especially the mobile market, which is showing signs of stagnation or even slight declines, only partially compensated by growth in fixed line services. The introduction of new players in the market, such as the Third Mobile Licence and the new licence for Oman Broadband, will further accelerate the pressure on the market conditions, and will likely limit the revenue growth potential across all players. The growth in data consumption in both fixed and mobile increases demand for broadband services providing an opportunity to grow revenues. The acquisition of a stake in Zain will enable Omantel to diversify its revenue sources and contribute to the creation of an added value to the shareholders.


CMA has approved the prospectus of increasing the capital of Celebrity National Financial Services. The procedure of the right issue will be started soon in coordination with the issue manager, Ubhar Capital. The company has completed all scheduled terms and tasks with positive achievements and has prepared a very accurate strategic plan to support the company and return it to positive side.


The Majlis Ash’shura’s session last week discussed the Economic and Financial Committee’s report regarding the draft Foreign Capital Investment Bill which was referred to Shura by the government. There were five draft bills under discussion by the committee during the past days and the committee has been working hard to finalise them before the end of the current term. These bills are so important for finding an attractive atmosphere for investments. The bills under discussion are: The Foreign Capital Investment Bill, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Bill, Public-Private Partnership Bill, the Privatisation Bill and the Development Planning Bill.


A selective tax that will be levied on tobacco, energy drinks, soft drinks and special-purpose goods (alcohol and pork) will come into force June 15, 2019. The move was announced by the Secretariat General for Taxation (SGT).


Three new fishery harbours are planned for implementation at key locations along the Wusta and Dhofar coasts as part of a bid to expand and modernise the Sultanate’s fishery harbour infrastructure. Also in conjunction with this effort, authorities are studying the feasibility of establishing a pair of model fishing villages on the Wusta coast, while supporting the roll-out of a fleet of modern fishing boats as well.


CMA disclosed latest data on the insurance sector of Oman. Overall, premiums grew from RO 451.5m in 2017 to RO 463.5m in 2018, however the penetration dropped to 1.52 per cent in 2018 compared to 1.66 per cent in 2017, largely because of higher growth in GDP compared to premiums. On the other hand, insurance density rose because the population remained stagnant registering a growth of merely 0.2 per cent YoY in 2018. The number of insurance policies, general and life, issued by insurance companies in 2018 have increased by 17 per cent to 2m policies including 1.72m general insurance policies and 285,664 life insurance policies compared to the policies issued in 2017 which were 1.722 million. Oman’s experience in the past years, such as the exceptional climate forced the owners of properties to provide insurance coverage. Insurance companies contributed during the Cyclone Mekunu in May 2018 in covering losses at RO 150m to mitigate the loss and damage to the properties.


 [Courtesy: U-Capital]


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