The MSM 30 Index retreated this week on slower market activity, with reduced turnover and volume on weekly basis. Omani and foreign investors absorbed the selling pressure from GCC and Arab investors, and were net buyers of about $2.46 million worth of securities.
The MSM30 Index dropped 0.31 per cent this week to close at 4013.55. Within the sub-indices, the Industrial Index dropped the most by 1.18 per cent w-o-w, followed by the Services Index which dropped by 0.74 per cent. The Financial Index was the only index that advanced this week, gaining 0.11 per cent w-o-w. The Shariah Index closed down by 0.42 per cent.
Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran), the Sultanate’s executive arm for tourism development and the largest developer and owner of hotels in Oman, has appointed Ubhar Capital SAOC (U Capital) as its adviser to study the privatization of some of its major hotels. U Capital will advise on structuring, marketing and identifying investors, both local and international.
Pioneer Cement Industries subsidiary of Raysut Cement is in the process of setting up an integrated cement plant with annual capacity of 1.2MT in Georgia, Eastern Europe, at an estimated cost of $200 million. Construction work is set to begin on November 15, 2019. Pioneer Cement owns concession to limestone mines in Georgia that will provide key raw materials to this project.
Royalties paid by telecom companies operating across various classes in the Sultanate jumped 45 per cent to RO 78.3 million in 2018, up from RO 53.9 million a year earlier, according Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). The uptick is partly driven by an increase in the royalty rate set by the Omani government with effect from January 1, 2017 to 12 per cent of revenues, up from 7 per cent previously. Royalties paid by Omantel and Ooredoo, accounted for around 97 per cent of the total. The remainder was contributed by Awasr (Class I Fixed), Connecti Arabia and TeO (Class I International Gateway, Majan (Renna) and Friendi Mobile (Class II Mobile Resellers), Rignet and Azyan Telecom (Class III Private Networks).
The Oman Public-Private Partnership Forum 2019 was held last week. Officials discussed the government’s role in this regard. The Minister of Finance said that the government aims at the end of the ninth five-year plan to reach the value of projects associated with partnership programmes to about RO 2.5 billion. In addition, the Authority is currently studying other initiatives for partnership projects in preparation for submission to the private sector in the near future. The contribution of non-oil activities is estimated to be increased to about 70 per cent of the GDP by the end of the plan. The plan aims to reach the contribution of the private sector to 52 per cent of the volume of investments in development projects. The growth rate of value added for activities Private sector investment in the economic diversification program projects amounted to more than RO 7.4 billion, including RO 2.1 billion of foreign investment in the Sultanate. The Authority is currently working on the preparation of the draft bylaws of the Public-Private Partnership Law and the Privatization Law, which they seek to complete before the end of this year in preparation for their adoption by the concerned authorities. The PPP Authority pointed out that 38 projects are currently being studied in various sectors including health, education and transport. These projects are pursued by 11 government entities.
Last week, health ministry unveiled new PPP projects in Oman. Some of the projects highlighted under the PPP setup are below:
n A Central Laboratory, which the Ministry wants private sector partner to design, build, finance and maintain on its behalf. The project entails the development of a modern central laboratory with advanced technology and R&D facilities at an estimated cost of RO 19 million.
n 150-bed secondary hospital (expandable to 300 beds).
n A 16-unit Dialysis Centre aimed at augmenting dialysis services in the Sultanate.
n A Primary Health Centre to be developed under the PPP model under a long-term agreement with a private partner. The proposed greenfield facility will house as many as 16 clinics serving a population of around 10,000.
New vehicles registered in Oman in the month of June stood at 3,967 taking the total number of new vehicles registered during first six months of 2019 to 28,557. Average monthly new vehicle registration has declined to 4,760 in 2019 compared to 6,517 in 2017 and 4,783 in 2018. As at the end of June 2019, total number of vehicles registered in Oman now stands at 1.52 million compared to 1.46 million in June 2018. Continuous slide in new vehicle registration poses a challenge for insurance companies, especially the ones which specialize in auto insurance, along with leasing and banking sectors for auto-finance.
Air traffic movements in Oman have continued to grow thanks to governments continued focus on the development of Oman as an aviation and logistic hub as well as greater push on the tourism. Overall (landing & take-off of aircrafts in Oman stood at 125,543 in 2018 compared to 120,559 in 2017, growth of 4.1 per cent. Landing of aircrafts stood at 62,476 in 2018, YoY growth of 4.1 per cent while take-off of aircrafts in Oman stood at 62,797 in 2018, YoY growth of 4.2 per cent. (Courtesy: U-Capital)
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