Shareholders of Al Omaniya clear 25 per cent dividend proposal

24/03/2015 06:23 AST

Shareholders of Al Omaniya Financial Services, Oman's largest non-banking finance company, have approved a dividend of 25 per cent for the year ended 2014 comprising 15 per cent cash, 2 per cent stock dividend and 8 per cent compulsorily convertible unsecured bonus stock bonds.

The company's annual general meeting on March 23 was presided by Khalid Said Al Wahaibi, chairman of Al Omaniya Financial Services.

The board of directors appreciated the measures taken by the Central Bank of Oman and the Capital Market Authority with a view to strengthening the financial sector in the Sultanate of Oman.

Aftab Patel, chief executive officer of the company, said that the company's loan book stands at OMR228.266 million by 2014-end, the highest among the non-banking financial services companies.

The total revenues of the company stood at OMR18.92 million. The pre-tax profit stands at OMR7.36 million and the net profit is OMR6.48 million. The company has provided OMR1.959 million as provision for doubtful debts. The earnings per share is OMR0.028. For regulatory limits, the net worth of the company stands at OMR63.62 million. The book value of the share is OMR0.239 the highest in the industry.

The company has a well diversified portfolio of assets with the lowest non-performing assets ratio of 0.845 per cent in the industry. The cumulative provisions stand at OMR7.651 million, which covers 384 per cent of the non-performing assets. The company focuses to strengthen its position as a specialised financial institution to meet the corporate needs besides continuing the retail and micro finance business. The company has been posting higher earnings and profitability over the years and has been a consistent dividend payer since inception.

On most of the parameters, the company stands at pole position viz. number one in asset size, highest net worth, highest market capitalisation, highest profit, highest EPS, highest profit per employee and lowest non-performing loans and largest market capitalisation on the MSM in the sector.

Patel added that the company's performance for the year 2015 till date has been in line with the projections and barring unforeseen circumstances the company is expected to maintain its track record of profitability and dividend payments.

Moody's Investors Service has reaffirmed the Global scale Ba3 local and foreign currency corporate family rating (CFR) with stable outlook.

Times of Oman