Bank Sohar to seek approval for OMR100m bond issue

Muscat: Bank Sohar said it is convening an extraordinary meeting for seeking shareholders’ approval for OMR100 million private placement of perpetual bonds on August 13. This is for raising tier I capital of the bank. The original offer is for OMR70 million, with a green shoe option of an additional OMR30 million, according to a disclosure statement posted on MSM website. The nominal value of the bond is at OMR1,000 per bond.
The EGM will also seek approval to authorise the board to take all necessary actions to execute the deal and take all measures to obtain all necessary approvals from authorities concerned.
Bank Sohar also said that Rajeev Kumar Arora has been appointed as Deputy General Manager – Head of Retail. This appointment was for strengthening the bank's senior management capabilities and business.
Bank Sohar earlier this month announced a 31.24 per cent growth in its consolidated net profit at OMR11.57 million for the first half of 2017, over the same period of last year. Net loans and advances for the first half of 2017 also rose by 11.53 per cent to OMR1,997.47 million against OMR1,785 million for the same period of 2016. Deposits from customers rose by 11.10 per cent to 1,660.25 million from OMR1,490.86 million during the period under review.
Total assets of the bank also rose by 13.75 per cent to OMR2,674.40 million by end-June, 2017 from OMR2,351.02 million for the same period of last year. Operating income of the bank edged down by 1.33 per cent to OMR35.57 million from OMR36.05 million during the period under review.