Oman's Bank Dhofar to raise capital, issue debt

Oman's Bank Dhofar, the third-largest lender in the sultanate by assets, plans to boost its capital by issuing up to 115.5 million rials ($300 million; Dh1.1 billion) of Tier 1 capital instruments in 2015, it said on Thursday.

In addition, the bank said it would issue up to $500 million (Dh1.83bn) of senior non-capital debt instruments in the next four years.

Both plans would aim to support growth in coming years and would require shareholder and regulatory approvals, Bank Dhofar said. It did not give details of the planned capital or debt instruments. 

The bank’s posted consolidated net profit of 20.50 million Omani riyals for the six-month period ended June 30th, 2014, compared with a net profit of 17.81 million riyals (excluding legal case recovery) for the corresponding period of last year, with a growth of 15.10%.

In August, Fitch Ratings upgraded Bank Dhofar’s Viability Rating (VR) to 'BB+' from ‘BB’ and also affirmed the bank’s Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BBB+'.

The upgrade of bank’s VR is a result of the bank’s resilient performance, with generally sound asset quality and capital, which are now closer to more highly rated peers.

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