BankMuscat (SAOG), the nation’s largest bank, has achieved a net profit of RO 84.2 million for the year ended 31 December 2007, as against a net profit of RO 60.4 million for the year ended 31 December 2006, an increase of 39.4%.
Net interest income increased by 25.1% from RO 99.8 million in 2006 to RO 124.8 million in 2007. Non-interest income grew from RO 30.8 million in 2006 to RO 48.1 million in 2007, an impressive growth of 56.2% as a result of increased business volumes, product cross selling and new products & services. Operating profit of RO 102.6 million in 2007 is 32.7% higher than the RO 77.3 million achieved in 2006. Operating expenses of RO 70.3 million in 2007 are higher by 31.8% than RO 53.3 million incurred in 2006. Increase in operating expenses was attributable to increase in salary costs and other administrative costs due to expansion of delivery network, products and business lines. The Cost to Income ratio for the year was at 40.6% as compared to 40.8% in 2006.
The return on average assets was at 2.35% in 2007 as compared to 2.4% in 2006. The return on average equity substantially improved from 21.9% in 2006 to 25.3% in 2007. The basic earnings per share increased from RO 0.066 in 2006 to RO 0.090 in 2007, which works to be a return of 90% on a nominal value of a share.
The Bank’s net loans and advances portfolio grew by RO 852 million or 46.4% to RO 2,687 million as at 31 December 2007 compared to RO 1,835 million as at 31 December 2006. Customer deposits increased by RO 505 million or 27.8% to RO 2,322 million as at 31 December 2007 compared to RO 1,817 million as at 31 December 2006. Savings deposits had an impressive growth of 53.5% from RO 426 million as at 31 December 2006 to RO 654 million as at 31 December 2007.
BankMuscat enjoys a market share of 42.7% in terms of total assets, 43.3% in terms of total credit and 38.0% in terms of total customer deposits as at 30 November 2007. The Bank’s share of total savings deposits was 43.1% as at 30 November 2007.
The Bank made loan loss provisions of RO 17.8 million during the year compared to RO 18.4 million made during the year ended 31 December 2006. Loan loss provision charge of RO 17.8 million for the year 2007 includes RO 9.2 million towards non-specific loan loss provisions as per the requirement of Central Bank of Oman. The Bank holds a non-specific loan loss provision of RO 40.2 million as at 31 December 2007. During the year 2007, the Bank recovered RO 7.7 million from provision for possible credit losses compared to RO 7.3 million in 2006.
The Bank’s associates contributed RO. 5.5 million as share of profits during the year 2007 as against a RO. 4.1 million in 2006.
The Board of Directors of the Bank recommended a cash dividend of 50% for the year 2007, subject to due approval by the shareholders and regulatory authorities, thus keeping up the practice of consistently providing good returns to shareholders.
About BankMuscat (SAOG):
With assets worth over US $10.9 billion, BankMuscat (SAOG) is the largest bank in Oman today with a strong presence in Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Investment Banking, Treasury, Private Banking and Asset Management. The Bank has a network of 107 branches and over 260 ATMs in Oman, a branch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and a representative office in Dubai (UAE). BankMuscat also has a strategic stake in Centurion Bank of Punjab, a private sector bank in India and BankMuscat International (BMI) an independent Banking entity that will be focused on becoming a truly GCC regional bank. The Bank has also recently acquired a 43% stake in the Mangal Keshav Group, one of the oldest and most respected securities houses in the fast-growing Indian equities market.
