Muscat: Dividend season is in full swing at the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX), with public joint stock companies holding their annual general assemblies (AGMs) to approve profit distributions.

The main index of MSX dropped 40 points, closing at 4,395 points, while sector indices followed suit:

• Financial index fell 82 points
• Industrial index declined 49 points
• Services index lost 15 points
• Sharia index dipped 4 points

Investor anticipation is now focused on Asyad Shipping Company, set to debut on MSX next Wednesday. Following a successful public subscription for 1.04 billion shares between February 20-27, the offering saw 1.4 times oversubscription, raising RO 177 million. The Financial Services Authority approved allocation ratios last week, making this one of the most closely watched listings of the year.

Several companies have already approved their dividend recommendations, including:

• Oman Packaging Company
• Muscat Thread Mills Company
• Shell Oman Marketing Company
• Musandam Power

Upcoming AGMs this week will see:

• Ooredoo discuss a cash dividend of 11.53 baisas per share
• OQ Exploration and Production consider 7.21 baisas per share now and an additional 7.21 baisas per share in May
• Oman Real Estate Fund propose 1.4% cash dividends

MSX saw 38 securities decline, while 20 gained and 21 remained unchanged. The market value slipped to RO 27.19 billion, posting a weekly loss of RO 124.8 million.

Despite the 3,489 deals executed—a decline from the 4,416 the previous week—total trading value increased by 5% to RO 18.6 million.

Gains:

• Muscat City Desalination (+4.6%) – closed at 68 baisas
• Al Safa Foods (+3.9%) – closed at 395 baisas
• Al Anwar Investments (+2.9%) – closed at 70 baisas

Losses:

• Muscat Thread Factories (-13.9%) – closed at 139 baisas
• Muscat Gases (-11.1%) – closed at 80 baisas
• Financial Centre (-8.5%) – closed at 43 baisas

BankDhofar announced plans to establish a Euro Medium Term Notes (EMTN) program worth $1 billion. Shareholders have been invited to the Extraordinary General Assembly on March 23 to approve the proposal. The Annual Ordinary General Assembly on the same day will also discuss:

• Cash dividends of 6.55 baisas per share
• Distribution of 1.45 free shares for every 100 shares owned

If approved, the bank’s capital will increase to 3.039 billion shares, up from 2.996 billion shares. Despite the news, BankDhofar shares saw no trading activity last week, closing at 151 baisas.