Omantel to pay 40% interim dividend

Muscat: Oman Telecommunications Company’s (Omantel’s) board has approved a proposal to distribute an interim dividend of 40 per cent of the paid up capital among shareholders.
The record date for dividend payment is August 31 and is based on the mandate of the general assembly of the company held on March 24, 2016, the majority state-owned telecom company said in a disclosure statement.
The company’s board also approved its financial results for the first half of 2016. Omantel achieved a 9 per cent growth in net profit to OMR66.8 million for the first half of 2016, against OMR61.3 million for the same period of last year. Total revenue grew by 5.9 per cent to OMR271.6 million for the first half, up from OMR256.6 million a year ago.
Also, operating expenses of the company recorded a marginal 2.4 per cent growth to OMR77.7 million for the first half of 2016, compared with the same period last year.
The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were OMR138.6 million, rising from OMR125.7 million last year and registering a 10.3 per cent jump.