The MSX30 Index ended the week higher by 0.11 per cent. All sub-indices ended lower except for the Services Index which rose by 1.07 per cent week-on-week. The Financial & Industrial sub-indices closed lower by 0.34 per cent and 0.23 per cent, respectively. MSX Shariah Index closed lower by 1.35 per cent. This week also marks the end of the Year 2021 for the Muscat Stock Exchange, which has closed higher by 12.87 per cent year-on-year (YoY), reversing its annual losing streak since 2016.
During the week, Ooredoo Oman announced that it has entered into a Roaming Pact with Vodafone Oman. The 3-year agreement will enable Vodafone Oman to use Ooredoo Oman’s national roaming services.
During the week, Oman Arab Bank disclosed that it will redeem its Perpetual Subordinated Bonds issued on December 29, 2016. The Bank had issued Perpetual Subordinated Bonds OAB PERPET. SUB (OABl) for RO 30 million on December 29, 2016, at interest rate of 7.75 per cent pa which is listed in the MSX Bonds market. Pursuant to 6.8(b) (Bank’s Call Option) of the terms and conditions of the bonds, the Bank is hereby issuing an irrevocable notice to the holders of these bonds that it will redeem all the bonds on January 29, 2022 (the Redemption Date) at their principal amount together with the interest accrued to but excluding the Redemption date. Following the redemption, the bonds will be delisted from MSX Bonds market.
The Bank had earlier issued RO 96.25mn worth of Tier Perpetual bonds in June this year at a coupon rate of 7.625 per cent per annum, most likely to replace the issuance of 2016. The bank’s Capital adequacy ratio at end-9M21 stood at 17.74 per cent, while Tier 1 Capital ratio stood at 16.9 per cent.
The inflation rate of consumer prices in the Sultanate of Oman increased by 2.8 per cent during Nov’21 compared to the same month in 2020, and the rate increased by 0.12 per cent compared to Oct’21, according to the latest data issued by the National Center for Statistics and Information.
The Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion issued a decision to deduct a percentage of budgets of establishments and companies that are allocated to corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes and channel the sums to Oman Charitable Organization (OCO). The decision (205/2021) states that this percentage will enable OCO to play a stronger role in providing charity services to the entitled social segments.
A utility-scale green hydrogen project due to be launched in the coming years at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Duqm is anticipated to yield 1 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) of green ammonia when it is fully built, according to the venture’s key partners. Hyport Duqm – a partnership of OQ (the global integrated energy group of the Sultanate of Oman) and DEME Concessions (the renewable energy and offshore marine infrastructure arm of Belgium’s DEME Group) – is set to be the first of many world-scale, green hydrogen projects slated to come on stream in the country over next couple of decades.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, and Fisheries Development Oman (FDO) Company celebrated laying the foundation of the tuna fishing vessels at the Indian Ocean. The vessels, owned by Al Wusta Fishery Industries, aim to catch 20,000 tons of different tuna fish annually in the first phase. The catch will enable the Sultanate of Oman to get its share of the living aquatic resources in the international waters of the Indian Ocean. In Oman, fisheries, which, is one of the vital sources of national income for the Sultanate of Oman, is the second source of national income after oil. (Courtesy: U-Capital)
