MSX closes the week higher

MSX30 Index ended the week higher by 0.71 per cent. All indexes ended the week higher except for the financial index. The financial Index closed lower by 0.03 per cent. Service index and industrial index ended higher by 2.40 per cent and 1.42 per cent respectively. The MSX Shariah Index closed higher by 0.81 per cent.

From the initial financial results posted on the MSX website so far, our analysis indicates that the Services Sector companies have shown the best year-on-year (YoY) performance so far, with combined net profit of the sector at RO 5.9m in 1Q22 as compared to RO 1.5m in 1Q21. This was largely anticipated as Covid-related restrictions had adversely affected the sector last year. The sector has been supported by the Oil & Gas marketing & services sector as well as hospitality to some extent. The second-best performing sector is the Financial Sector, supported by the investment and brokerage as well as the banking & insurance sectors, posting a combined net profit of RO 90m in 1Q22 as compared to RO 77m in 1Q21. This, again, has resulted from a widespread economic recovery feeding into the sector’s IFRS 9 models and expected credit loss expenses, when compared with the pandemic-strewn economic indicators last year.

The Industrial Sector’s combined net profit for 1Q22 has halved from 1Q21. We believe this is likely due to elevated commodity prices, which negatively affect raw material costs for these companies. The food & beverage sector (5 companies have reported so far) has seen its combined net profit drop about 90 per cent YoY in 1Q22, especially Oman flour Mills, likely adversely affected by the escalation in global wheat prices in lieu of the Russian-Ukraine war.

Oman’s annual inflation rate eased for the second straight month in March, mainly due to a sharp drop in the prices of fish and seafood products. Inflation — as measured by the Sultanate of Oman’s consumer price index — decreased to 3.6 per cent in March 2022 compared with 4.0 per cent recorded in February and 4.4 per cent in January this year, according to data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). The consumer price index (CPI) for food and non-alcoholic beverages items, which have nearly 24 per cent weight in Oman’s CPI, rose by 4.9 per cent in March compared to the same month of the previous year.

The value of landed fish in Oman in Oct’21 rose by 16 per cent MoM to RO 45.8m while Total Traditional Fishery Production rose by 30 per cent to 91.9k. On YoY basis, the value rose 27 per cent, while the production number was flat.

Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), the sole procurer of new power generation capacity, has invited qualified consultants to bid for its contract for the provision of technical advisory services linked to the development of the first Waste-to-Energy (WTE) project in the Sultanate of Oman. A Request for Proposals (RfP) issued by OPWP, a member of Nama Group, comes on the heels of last month’s key agreement signed with Oman Environment Services Holding Company (be’ah), which operates and manages the country’s municipal waste sector.

The Ministry of Energy and Minerals has invited local and international mining companies with experience in mining projects to participate in a new tender round targeting rich potash reserves in the Sultanate of Oman. Potash salts, which are primarily used in the production of fertiliser, among other commodities, are found in four blocks — 53-A, 53-B, 53-C and 51-D — covered in the latest tender round. [Courtesy: U-Capital]