Muscat: The Board of Directors of Bank Muscat, the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate, has approved the unaudited results for the year ended December 31, 2019, and has also proposed a 40 per cent dividend for the year 2019. The proposed dividend includes a cash dividend of 35 per cent as well as 5 per cent in the form of bonus shares. Under the proposed dividend, the bank’s shareholders will receive a cash dividend of OMR0.035 per ordinary share of OMR0.100 each, aggregating to OMR108.317 million on the bank’s existing share capital. Besides, they will also receive bonus shares in the proportion of 1 share for every 20 ordinary shares aggregating to 154,739,168 shares of OMR0.100 each amounting to OMR15.474 million.
The meeting of the Board of Directors chaired by Sheikh Khalid Bin Mustahail Al Mashani, Chairman, on January 29, 2020, approved the 2019 financial results and the dividend payout, subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and the shareholders of the bank.
The bank posted a net profit of OMR185.55 million for the year compared to OMR179.63 million reported during the same period in 2018, an increase of 3.3 per cent.
Net Interest Income from Conventional Banking and Income from Islamic Financing stood at OMR316.97 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to OMR304.29 million for the same period in 2018, an increase of 4.2 per cent.
Non-interest income was OMR155.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to OMR142.45 million for the same period in 2018, an increase of 9 per cent.
Operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2019, was OMR195.93 million as compared to OMR190.34 million for the same period in 2018, an increase of 2.9 per cent. Net Impairment for credit and other losses for the year 2019 was OMR56.13 million as against OMR43.24 million for the year 2018.
Net loans and advances including Islamic financing receivables decreased by 0.7 per cent to OMR8,878 million as against OMR8,939 million as of December 31, 2018. The reduction in loan book is mainly attributable to prepayment of certain large corporate exposures in 2019.
Customer deposits including Islamic customer deposits decreased by 5 per cent to OMR8,044 million as against OMR8,463 million as of December 31, 2018. The main reason for the decrease in customer deposits in 2019 was due to a substantial increase in a large short term deposit that was transit in nature in the last quarter of 2018.
The basic earnings per share was OMR0.060 in 2019 against OMR0.059 in 2018. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio stood at a very healthy level of 19.72 per cent as on December 31, 2019, after appropriation for proposed dividend for the year 2019 against the minimum required level of 14.50 per cent as per Basel III regulations issued by the Central Bank of Oman.
