Bank Muscat profit rises

14/10/2011 00:00 AST

BankMuscat rose to its highest level in almost two weeks after Oman's largest lender by market value reported a more than 18 per cent increase in third-quarter profit.

The bank recorded a net profit of 29.9 million rials for the quarter compared with 25.17m rials in the same period last year.

The stock, listed on the Muscat Securities Market, rose 0.6 per cent yesterday to 0.669 rials, its highest since October 2.

"We expect to increase our credit growth estimates going forward, which is driven by lending in big-ticket projects and the revival in the personal credit market in the country," said Kanaga Sundar, the head of research at Gulf Baader Capital Markets, a brokerage in Oman.

Mr Sundar has a "buy" rating on the stock with a target price of 0.909 rials.

Oman's benchmark was little changed at 5,515.76 points.

In the UAE, Emirates NBD reversed losses of earlier this week when Dubai's biggest lender announced plans to take over Dubai Bank.

Emirates NBD's shares, listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), rose 1.1 per cent to Dh3.62.

The DFM General Index was little changed at 1,384.58.

In the capital, National Bank of Abu Dhabi declined 1.4 per cent to Dh10. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index fell 0.3 per cent to 2,477.80.

Kuwait's index was up 0.3 per cent at 5,867.50, Bahrain's rose 0.2 per cent to 1,149.93, and Qatar's slipped 0.2 per cent to 8,396.53. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index was closed for the day.

The National