Sohar International recently announced the successful closure of its rights issue with an oversubscription. This raises its Tier 1 capital by OMR 40m.

In spite of the difficult economic environment, the response has been overwhelming and it reiterates the bank’s positive and steady market position and the confidence of investors, which included a varied participants, ranging from government, quasi-government agencies, large corporates, insurance companies, to high net worth individuals, and family offices.

The issuance marks the largest in local currency by any bank, and the largest by any firm in 2018/2019 under the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and listed in Muscat Securities Market (MSM).

Media sources quoted Ahmed Al Musalmi, Chief Executive Officer of Sohar International as saying,“With a strong purpose at heart of helping people win by delivering banking for their ever-changing world, we have set forth onto a new era for the bank that will see it revolve and evolve to continue redefining banking.”

He added that the move to increase their capital was part of the  on-going five-year strategy that had been carefully crafted in the year 2018 and put into effect in the year 2019.“The bolster to our capital will further strengthen our strong base and our capital adequacy ratios- which are already above regulatory requirements – enabling us to provide more value, more vision, and more velocity to our customers and shareholders alike. This increase in the capital, when viewed in conjunction with the recent increase of OMR100m in additional Tier 1 securities, has resulted in improvements in the bank’s capital structure and has positioned Sohar International to pursue more growth opportunities ultimately contributing positively to Oman’s economy and its diversification agenda,” he said.