Omantel among top 50 most valuable brands in Middle East

Muscat: Omantel has been ranked in the top 50 most valuable brands in the Middle East by a top business valuation and strategy consultancy.
The company rose to 45th place this year from 47th last year and is the only Omani company featured in the list, according to the U.K.-based Brand Finance, that comes up with annual ratings.
The list also saw aviation giant Emirates lose the first place to the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) after a challenging year of dwindling profits and strict regulations.
STC is valued at more than $6.2 billion, an 11 per cent rise since last year, while Emirates’ market value slipped 21 per cent since last year to $6.08 billion.
Etisalat, QNB, Emirates NBD, Ooredoo, Almarai, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Zain and the Abu Dhabi commercial bank completed the list of top 10. United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia dominated the list with 17 and 18 brands respectively in the top 50, while eight brands from Qatar and four from Kuwait made it to the list. A brand each from Lebanon and Jordan completed the top 50 brands.
The list sums up variables, including the Brand Strength Index, Royalty Rates, Cost of Capital and Trademark Audit, which are used to value the brands.
Qatar’s Ooredoo, which is also one of the largest telecom providers in Oman, climbed five spots to the 6th place after being valued at $3.1 billion.