Bank Muscat board revises 2018 dividend proposal to 40 per cent

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate, has revised the proposed dividend payout to 40 per cent from 35 per cent for the year 2018. The Board of Directors has recommended the revised 2018 dividend as an exceptional consideration for shareholders’ approval.

Continuing the bank’s strong dividend payment track record, the Board of Directors has proposed 35 per cent cash dividend as against the previously announced 30 per cent. In addition, 5 per cent dividend in the form of bonus shares has been proposed as announced earlier. The bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) post the cash dividend payout will be 19.22 per cent which is well above the regulatory minimum.

Shareholders would receive cash dividend of RO 0.035 per ordinary share of RO 0.100 each aggregating to RO 103.159 million on the bank’s existing share capital.

In addition, they would receive bonus shares in the proportion of 1 share for every 20 ordinary shares aggregating to 147,370,636 shares of RO 0.100 each amounting to RO 14.737 million. The proposed cash dividend and issuance of bonus shares are subject to formal approval of the Annual General Meeting of shareholders.

The bank posted a net profit of RO 179.63 million for the period ending December 31, 2018 compared to RO 176.82 million reported during the same period in 2017, an increase of 1.6 per cent. The complete set of audited financial statements is available on Muscat Securities Market website.