Bankmuscat Regs Regulatory News (BKM)

20 Feb 2006 09:54

BankMuscat (S.A.O.G)20 February 2006 Central Bank of Oman approves BankMuscat's Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2005 - Recommends an amendment in cash dividend in 35% (in addition to stock dividend of 10%). BankMuscat Board of Directors Approves of the same. Muscat. February 18, 2006; The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has approved thefinancial statements of BankMuscat (SAOG) for the year ended 31 December 2005 ina letter to the bank dated 14 February 2006, and has recommended an amendmentto the cash dividend proposal made by the bank from 40% to 35%. The cashdividend proposal is in additional to the bank's proposed stock dividenddistribution of 10% for the year. BankMuscat, the nation's premier bank, it may be recalled, had achieved anet profit of RO 45.4 million for the year ended 31 December 2005, as against anet profit of RO 34.1 million for the year ended 31 December 2004, an increaseof 33.1%. The bank had in a earlier news release intimated that the 'Board ofDirectors are pleased to recommend a cash dividend of 40% and stock divided of10% for the year 2005, subject to due approval by the shareholders andregulatory authorities, thus keeping up the practice of consistently providinggood returns to shareholders'. The recommendations of the Central Bank of Oman have been accepted and approvedby the BankMuscat Board of Directors. The proposals of the Board, are however,are still subject to approval at the Annual General Meeting of shareholders andby the Capital Markets Authority, Sultanate of Oman in accordance with article120 of the Commercial Companies Law no 1974/4 and its amendments as well usarticle 45 of the Articles of Association of the bank. The bank expects its Annual General Meeting to be held on 19 March 2006. Ends About BankMuscat (SAOG): BankMuscat (SAOG) is the largest banking entity in Oman with assets worth overUS$5.2 billion and a strong presence in Corporate Banking, Retail Banking,Investment Banking, Treasury, Private Banking and Asset Management. The Bankhas a network of 90 branches in Oman and a representative office in Dubai (UAE).BankMuscat also has a strategic stake in Centurion Bank of Punjab, a privatesector bank in India and has recently set up BankMuscat International (BMI) anindependent banking entity that is focused on becoming a truly GCC regionalbank. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange