Muscat: Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) held its first two e- extraordinary and ordinary general assembly  meetings  in line with the decisions of the Supreme Committee Tasked With Handling the Developments Of Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic and the directives of the Capital Market Authority. As per these instructions, public joint stock companies were asked to hold their annual general assemblies remotely as per the guidelines set by CMA.

The extraordinary general assembly of the company, which was held on May 10, 2020, was chaired by His Excellency Abdul Salam Al Murshidi, Chairman of the Board of Directors in the presence of board members, external auditors of the company, the legal advisor, the observer of the Capital Market Authority and the Shareholders. The meeting approved the amendments made to the company’s articles of association (MoA) to ensure compliance with the Commercial Companies Law issued by Royal Decree No. 18/2019. According to the new amendments, all members of the Board of Directors are elected by the general assembly of the company.

The extraordinary meeting was followed by the annual ordinary general assembly meeting which took note of  the Company’s decision to distribute cash dividends to registered shareholders as of March 26, 2020 (55 Baisas per share), based on the Capital Market Authority ‘s circular No. 4/202 dated March 18, 2020.

The ordinary general assembly also approved the company’s financial results for 2019 and approved the amount allocated for the community support for 2020.

The  general assembly  also elected by secret ballot 9 members (from the shareholders and others) for the new term namely His Excellency Abdul Salam Al Murshidi, Saud Al Nahari, Khaled Al Khalili, Ayman Al Hosni, Sayyid Zaki Al Busaidi, Matar Al Mamari, Mulham Al-Jarf, Atef Al Siyabi, and Muslim Al-Barami. The new board held its first meeting and elected His Excellency Abdul Salam bin Mohammed Al Murshidi as Chairman and Mr. Saud Bin Ahmed Al Nahari  , as the Vice Chairman. The BoD sub committees were also formed and their members were elected. 

Commenting on the meeting , His Excellency Abdul Salam bin Mohammed Al Murshidi, Chairman of Omantel Board of Directors, said, “The Group continued its good financial performance during 2019 despite the challenges that faced the sector, especially in the local market.”

“Zain operations continued to contribute to the growth of Omantel Group business and to make off the weak growth in the local market. Zain Group operations grew by 25% on an annual basis. This remarkable growth is attributed to the full consolidation of Zain KSA results in the Group in 2019 (the results of Zain KSA were consolidated for only 6 months during 2018)”, His Excellency added.

“Omantel’s acquisition of a strategic stake in the Zain Mobile Group contributed to raising the revenues and profits of Omantel Group and as a result of this acquisition, the third largest mobile operator in the MENA region was created. The acquisition provided opportunities for synergies between the two companies, enhanced the ability to compete more effectively in the market and helped in addressing the risks of operating in a single market”, His Excellency concluded. 

On his part, Talal bin Said Al Mamari, CEO of Omantel, said, “Omantel continued its growth trajectory despite the challenges that the sector witnessed in general. Omantel Group total revenues (including Zain Group’s operations) grew by 18.6% reaching RO 2592 million compared to RO 2186 million last year. Earnings before interest, tax and depreciation and amortization grew by 28% from R.O 855 million to R.O 1098 million. Omantel Group net profit (before non-controlling interests) grew by 43.5% to RO 299.7 million compared to RO 208.8 million during 2018. The net profit (after non-controlling interests) increased by 19.9% to RO 77.7 million, compared to RO 64.8 million in 2018.

“During 2019, we implemented several initiatives to overcome the challenges that faced the sector and take advantage of available opportunities to ensure sustainability of Omantel business. We further capitalized on available synergy opportunities between Omantel and Zain, especially in areas such as wholesale, enterprise and digital services as well as enhancement of customer experience, he added.