17 October 2016
proposed union between Bank Dhofar and Bank Sohar was expected to create Oman's second largest bank -

Samuel Kutty
Muscat - A proposed merger between Bank Dhofar and Bank Sohar has been called off as both banks could not reach agreement on certain issues.

“The board of Bank Dhofar has decided, after much deliberation, that it is in the best interests of shareholders to discontinue the negotiations on the proposed merger with Bank Sohar,” a statement said in a filing to the Capital Market Authority.

The proposed merger was expected to create Oman’s second largest bank

Although the bank did not elaborate, it said that both banks have not been able to reach a final deal on certain important key issues relating to completion of the proposed merger with Bank Sohar. The two banks had initiated merger talks in July 2013. In June this year, Bank Sohar said both banks had agreed on the share-swap ratio for the merger, following the completion of financial and legal due diligence in April.

At the end of the third quarter 2016, net loan book of Bank Dhofar stood at RO 2.924 billion, an increase of 10.9 per cent year on. At the same time, the total deposits increased by 9.4 per cent year on year to reach RO 2.791 billion.

The total operating income of the bank stood at RO 97.051 million, an increase of 14.7 year on year, while its operating expenses for the nine-month period reached RO 41.628 million, an increase of 8.4 per cent year on year.

The bank’s net profit for the period reached RO 10.707 million. Meanwhile, Bank Sohar net profit reached RO 4.13 million the third quarter, compared with RO 21.28 million, the bank said in its filing to the local bourse.

Accordingly, the first nine-month profits fell 39.2 per cent year-on-year to reach RO 12.94 million from RO 21.29 million.

© Oman Daily Observer 2016