Friday 03 / May / 2024
Muscat: The net profits of public joint stock companies listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange rose in the first quarter of this year to OMR212.7 million, compared to OMR187.3 million in the same period last year, recording a growth of 13.5 percent.
The preliminary financial statements announced by the companies on the Muscat Stock Exchange website showed that the financial results of most companies improved, and 5 companies moved from losses to profits, while five other companies moved from profits to losses. The losses recorded in the first quarter of this year decreased to OMR17.8 million compared to losses amounting to OMR19.3 million in the same period last year.
Most of the leading companies announced their preliminary financial results, with the exception of Omantel, which is awaiting the financial results of the Kuwaiti Zain Group. The financial results that were announced until the end of last week showed that 67 companies recorded profits during the first quarter of this year, while 24 companies recorded losses.
The winning companies were distributed across various sectors. In the financial sector, 25 companies recorded profits, in the services sector, 21 companies recorded profits, in the industrial sector, 18 companies recorded profits, and in the funds sector, 3 funds recorded profits.
On the other hand, losses were concentrated in the industrial sector with 12 companies, the services sector with seven companies and the financial sector with five companies.
The banks listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange were able to raise their total net profits in the first quarter of this year to OMR124.5 million compared to OMR106.3 million in the same period last year, recording an increase of 17 percent. All banks recorded growth in their profits, and Bank Muscat ranked first. Among the banks with the highest profits, Sohar International Bank ranked second, National Bank of Oman came third, Bank Dhofar fourth, and National Bank ranked fifth with profits of OMR8.6 million. Oman Arab Bank ranked sixth with profits of OMR6.4 million and Bank Nizwa reported profits of OMR3.8 million.
