bank muscat Board proposes dividend for year 2015

bank muscat Board proposes dividend for the year 2015

MUSCAT, 26 January 2016 - bank muscat, the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate, has proposed 30 per cent dividend for the year 2015. Continuing the Bank's strong dividend payment track record, the Board of Directors have proposed 25 per cent cash dividend for the year 2015 which is consistent with the cash dividend paid in the last five years. In addition, 5 per cent dividend in the form of bonus shares has been proposed. The bank has retained sufficient level of profits to further strengthen the capital base and be better positioned for possible future challenging market conditions.

The meeting of the Board of Directors chaired by Sheikh Khalid bin Mustahail Al Mashani, Chairman, on Tuesday 26 January 2016, approved the 2015 financial results and dividend payout, subject to approval of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and shareholders of the bank.

Shareholders would receive cash dividend of RO 0.025 per ordinary share of RO 0.100 each aggregating to RO 57.29 million on bank's existing share capital. In addition, they would receive bonus shares in the proportion of one share for every 20 ordinary shares aggregating to 114,591,130 shares of RO 0.100 each amounting to RO 11.46 million. The proposed cash dividend and issuance of bonus shares are subject to formal approval of the Annual General Meeting of the shareholders and the regulatory authorities.

The bank posted a net profit of RO 175.45 million in 2015 compared to RO 163.23 million reported in 2014, an increase of 7.5 per cent. The complete set of financial statements which are subject to Central Bank of Oman approval, are available in the Muscat Securities Market website.