Mubasher: The value of public subscriptions seen by Muscat Securities Market (MSM) in 2015 reached OMR 1.4 billion.
There were 58 such issues on the bourse and some of these listings were from closed joint stock companies, funds and sukuk.
The value of listings of joint stock companies stood at OMR 277.6 million, the most notable of which was Phoenix Energy with OMR 146.2 million in capital. The company offered 35% of its capital for public subscription.
As many as 25 joint stock companies increased their capital base by providing shareholders with stock dividends or through private placement and preferential rights last year. The new shares from convertible bonds of Renaissance Services and Oman Finance Services were listed on the market and added new depth to the market and brought many benefits to shareholders.
In addition, the market capitalisation of the joint stock companies increased by OMR 131.3 million, of which the banks increased their capital by about OMR 86 million. The securities and sukuk market has witnessed a remarkable shift after listing the first sovereign sukuk of the Sultanate, worth OMR250 million on the market.
The new listings maintained the MSM capitalisation at OMR 15.78 billion at the end of December 2015, growth of 8.3% compared to OMR14.564 billion at the same period of 2014, despite the decline witnessed by share prices due to the slump in oil prices, slow economic growth and poor performance of Gulf stock markets.
