Muscat: Muscat Securities Market (MSM) approved 20 public shareholding companies for the second quarter of 2020.
The business and financial behaviour of those companies conformed to the requirements of Islamic Sharia according to the Sharia rules approved by the Islamic Financial Accounting and Auditing Organisation.
The list included A Safa Foods, Al Batinah Development and Investment Holding Company, Al Jazeera Services, Al Kamil Power, Medina Takaful, Al Maha Ceramics, Nizwa Bank, Computer Stationery Industry, Oman Building Material, Dhofar Beverages Company, Gulf Mushroom Industries, Telecommunications Company (Ooredoo), Majan College, National Biscuits Industries, Omani Educational, Oman Flour Mills, Omani Packaging Company, Desert Hospitality, Salalah Mills and Oman Takaful Insurance.
It is noteworthy that the Sharia-compliant list is being revised every three months by adding companies that are compliant with standards and eliminating companies that lose their eligibility.
With regard to the Sharia index sample - which includes the best 15 companies compliant with the Sharia standards for a full fiscal year - three companies, namely Oman Cable Industry, Shell Oman Marketing and Salalah Port Services Company, exited for breaching the financial standards according to the Islamic Financial Accounting and Auditing Organisation? Three companies entered the sample, namely Oman Educational, Omani Packaging Company and the Gulf Mushroom Industries.
Muscat Securities Market clarified that investors and interested parties can review the criteria for selecting Sharia-compliant companies through the Sharia-compliant MSM Index available on its website.