16 November 2016
Muscat: The boards of National Finance Company and Oman Orix Leasing Company have jointly decided to appoint an independent consultant to study the possibility of a merger of both leasing firms.

This follows the recommendation of a joint working group formed by both leasing firms for a merger, both companies said in separate disclosure statements on the Muscat Securities Market on Tuesday.

The working group has studied the options for a strategic collaboration between the two firms and said that the only viable option for a strategic collaboration between National Finance and Oman Orix Leasing could be a merger of both institutions.

National Finance Company in its third quarter results said that as a result of the company’s business acquisition efforts, net investment in financing activities increased to OMR192.78 million as on September 30, 2016, against OMR176.79 million for the same period of 2015.

Overall, the company’s net profit was OMR4.25 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 which was similar to last year’s corresponding profit of OMR4.26 million.

Oman Orix Leasing earlier said that its gross lease receivables have increased by 15.8 per cent to OMR219.75 million by end of September 2016 compared to OMR189.688 million in comparable period of 2015. The company recorded a net profit of OMR3.88 million for the first nine months of 2016 compared to OMR3.86 million in the same period of 2015.

© Times of Oman 2016