MSM delists 21 closely-held firms from third market

MUSCAT: Omani bourse delisted 21 closely-held companies from the third market, which are either bankrupt or liquidated.

“These companies are tiny firms, which are not in existence now,” said a top-level official at the Muscat Securities Market (MSM). The capital of these companies has also eroded.

The market authorities occasionally remove such companies from listed companies in the third market.

According to date released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information, there was a 38.9 per cent fall in new small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in 2017 at 8.614 units, against 14,103 new units in the previous year. Among various governorates, Muscat witnessed a 15 per cent decline at 3,124 new units, against 3,675 units in 2016, while the fall in new firms in Al Batinah North was 39.6 per cent at 1,282 units. Likewise, Al Batinah South witnessed a 20 per cent fall in new SMEs at 771 units.

The companies that were delisted by the Muscat bourse include Local Tents Factory, Roaya Advertising, Roaya Publishing, Al Jabel Akhdar Hotels & Tourism, Faiq Commerce & Advertising Agency, National Company for Industry & Commerce, Global Insurance Brokerage Co, National Omani Marine, Sraya Oman Holding, Oman National Dairy Products, National Information Technology and Muscat Real Estate Development.

The Muscat Securities Market has around 130 publically listed companies, but less than fifty shares are traded on a daily basis. The daily average market turnover hovers around OMR3-5 million. Meanwhile, an Oman News Agency report said that the number of new Omani closed joint stock companies established during last year reached 24 with an issued capital of OMR46.63 million.

Abdullah bin Salim Al Araimi, Director of the Audit and Supervision Department of Commercial Establishments at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, confirmed that the total number of Omani completely registered closed joint-stock companies increased from 340 companies with issued capital amounting to OMR8,363.6 million by end-2016 to 362 companies with issued capital amounting to OMR8,397.9 million until the end of last year, which are divided between commercial, service and industrial activities. He pointed out that this rise is due to the improvement of the working environment and stability of the investment climate in the Sultanate.

The number of companies which are coming under the law of foreign capital investment increased to 8,811 by the end of 2017 from 7,992 in the previous year. The total capital of these companies amounted to OMR3,642.9 million by end2017, from OMR3,486.2 million for the same period of 2016, said Abdullah bin Salim Al Araimi.