Shares in Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) rose sharply on Thursday after the company posted its full financial results and proposed dividend payment for 2018.

Full-year group net profit amounted to 208.9 million Omani rials ($542.5 million) in 2018, compared to 99.8 million rials in 2017, translating into a 109.3 percent rise.

The company’s revenue stood at 2.19 billion rials in 2018 compared to 751.7 million rials in 2017, a 191.3 percent increase.

“The rally in the company’s shares is due to the higher than expected dividend for 2018,” Ayisha Zia Hassan Naseer, research analyst at Ubhar Capital, told Zawya by email.

The company’s board of directors proposed a cash dividend of 50 baizas per share for 2018, which is the same dividend as in 2017.

“Omantel has proposed to pay out a higher percentage of earnings for 2018 (64%) as compared to 47% last year,” Naseer said. She added that “the stock offered a cash dividend yield of 7.4%, as of yesterday.”

The company’s shares rose 3.55 percent on Thursday. Despite today’s rise, Omantel’s stock has dropped 9.79 percent since the start of the year.

(Reporting by Gerard Aoun; Editing by Michael Fahy)

(gerard.aoun@refinitiv.com)

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