Omantel Says Board Proposes Paying Cash Dividend Of 75%

Oman Telecommunications (Omantel) said on Monday its board had proposed paying a cash dividend of 75 percent of the par value of the company’s shares, equivalent to 0.075 rials ($0.19) a share.

The proposed cash amount, for which no timeframe was given but which is in line with what the company paid for the second half of 2013, will be voted on by shareholders at a meeting on Mar. 22.

Omantel’s board will also ask shareholders at the meeting to authorise it to pay an interim cash dividend in August worth up to 40 per cent of the par value of shares. The company paid 0.04 rials a share as an interim dividend for the first half of 2014, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The former monopoly operator in the sultanate reported an 11 per cent fall in fourth-quarter net profit on Sunday to 26.5 million rials, according to Reuters calculations.