Al Omaniya board approves 20% dividend

Muscat: Shareholders of Al Omaniya Financial Services, Oman’s largest non banking financial institution, have approved the audited financial statements of the company and also announced a dividend of 20 per cent for the financial year 2017 comprising of 17 per cent cash, and 3 per cent compulsorily convertible unsecured bonus stock bonds.
This was announced at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company which was held on March 19, 2018 presided by the company’s chairman Khalid Said Al Wahaibi.
The board of directors also appreciated the measures taken by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and the Capital Market Authority (CMA) with a view to strengthening the financial sector in the Sultanate, the company said in a press statement.
The company’s loan book stands at OMR223 million at the year end of 2017, the highest among the non banking financial services companies. The total revenues of the company stood at OMR19.8 million. The pre-tax profit stands at OMR8.4 million and the net profit is OMR6.98 million.
The company has provided OMR3.1 million as provision for doubtful debts. It wrote back an amount of OMR2.939 million out of the earlier taxed provision for impairment which was disallowed and taxed in earlier years in accordance with the income tax law then effective. The earnings per share is OMR0.026, and the net worth of the company stands at OMR70.4 million as per the regulatory limits. The book value of the share is OMR0.235.
The company has a well diversified portfolio of assets with the lowest non performing asset (NPA) ratio of 1.29 per cent in the industry. The cumulative provisions including special reserve for non performing assets stand at OMR8.553 million which covers 299 per cent of the NPAs.
Al Wahaibi said that the company has been paying consistent dividend since inception and stated that cumulative dividend paid till date stands at 423 per cent.
The company has the largest asset base, highest net worth, highest provision coverage, lowest non-performing loans and largest market capitalisation on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) in the sector.