Services Index led MSM decline

The stock market remained cautious last week with the announcement of the by Renaissance Services of one of its subsidiaries leading the decline by the Services Index and eventually the MSM30 Index. The MSM30 ended the week down by 1.76 per cent at 3822.59. All sub-indices closed down led by Services which was down by 2.62 per cent. The Industrial & Financial Index closed down by 1.47 per cent and 0.52 per cent, respectively. MSM Shariah Index closed down by 0.77 per cent w-o-w.

Further to Ominvest’s fully-owned subsidiary Jabreen Capital disclosure last week, Ominvest last week announced that they have purchased 43 per cent of EastBridge Partners Singapore. The investment does not exceed 5 per cent of Ominvest total equity; however, it is a strategic investment for Jabreen Capital and will support its long-term vision of diversifying its portfolio globally, it said.

Raysut Cement along with MSG Group of Companies limited, agreed on July 2 to establish a cement grinding unit in Somaliland with a production capacity of 1mpta. The estimated project cost is about $40m. Raysut Cement share is 55 per cent of the share capital and MSG is 45 per cent.

Renaissance Services last week announced the sale of Topaz Energy& Marine business to DP World. The Board of Directors of Renaissance Services SAOG (Renaissance) said it had received and accepted a final binding offer from DP World amounting to RO 415m ($1,078.9 million) enterprise value for acquiring 100 per cent shares in Topaz Energy and Marine Limited, Bermuda (Topaz). The Board of Directors of Renaissance will also call for a General Meeting on July 29, 2019 to present the offer from DP World for their approval.

Bank Dhofar EGM approves the issue of perpetual Tier 1 Capital Instrument in an indicative amount of $300m (RO 115m) at some time over the next five years to be listed and traded on Euronext Dublin and / or MSM through public or private placement, subject to any regulatory approval.

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos issued seven Royal Decrees last week.

n Royal Decree for the Statistics and Information Law.

n Riyal Decree provided some amendments to the law of pensions and post-service benefits for the Omani employees at Diwan of Royal Court.

n Royal Decree for the Foreign Capital Investment Law, which aims to alter the protection that foreign investors have in Oman and the regulation governing foreign investment.

n Royal Decree for the Privatization Law.

n Royal Decree for the Law for Partnership Between the Public and Private Sectors.

n Royal Decree for the new Bankruptcy Law, which aims to protect all parties involved when a company goes bankrupt.

n Royal Decree for establishing the Public Authority for Privatization and Partnership and its structure.

The total value of property transactions in the Sultanate till the end of May 2019 dropped by 13.9 per cent to reach RO 1,091m from RO 1,267m for the same period of 2018, as indicated by the preliminary statistics issued by National Centre for Statistics and information. Of the total traded value till the end of May 2019, RO 418.9m worth transactions were sales contracts, while RO 662.4m transactions were mortgage deals. The number of plots issued till the end of May 2019 was 94,171, which is a decline of 8.8 per cent from the same period last year.

At the end of first half of 2019, net foreign investment in Oman amounted to RO 3.35m ($8.7m). Foreign investment in Oman has started picking up ever since the news of removal of tax on dividend for foreigners was announced. With the implementation of new foreign investment and bankruptcy laws, we believe Oman is moving in the right direction, which will benefit the country in the coming period.

Among GCC markets, Oman was the only market which closed down by 1.76 per cent while all other markets ended positive led by Bahrain Bourse at 2.73 per cent. The UAE Cabinet has approved the sectors and economic activities eligible for up to 100 per cent foreign ownership in the UAE. A total of 122 economic activities across 13 sectors were specified to be eligible for up to 100 per cent foreign ownership such as renewable energy, space, agriculture, and manufacturing Industry. Areas of foreign ownership also include transport and storage, which allows investors to own projects in the field of e-commerce transport, supply chain, logistics, and cold storage for pharmaceutical products. The list also includes administrative services, support services, educational activities, healthcare, art and entertainment and construction.

[Courtesy: U-Capital]