Industrial sectors perform well on the Muscat Stock Exchange with rising profits

Muscat: Industrial companies listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) recorded good performance in last week’s trading, pushing the industrial sector index to rise by 50 points at a time when other indices declined.

The industrial sector index rose last week to 5,496 points, benefiting from the rise in the shares of Al-Jazeera Steel Products, Voltamp Energy, Dhofar Food and Investment, Al-Saffa Food and Al-Khaleejia for mushroom production. Last week, industrial companies announced their preliminary financial results for the year 2023, which showed growth in profits for many of them.

Al Jazeera Steel Products Company said that the group’s preliminary financial results showed a growth in profits by 31 percent, rising last year to 4.1 million Omani riyals, compared to 3.1 million Omani riyals.

In 2022, Voltamp Energy Company said that last year it recorded net profits of more than one million and 5 thousand Omani riyals, compared to losses of 1.375 million in 2022, and A’Saffa Foods Company said that its group recorded net profits last year of more than RO 3 million. Compared to losses of RO 1.7 million in 2022. The results of many other industrial companies showed a good improvement, which was reflected in the industrial sector index, which recorded the only increase among the Muscat Stock Exchange indices last week, while the main index fell by 20 points and closed at 4587 points, and the financial sector index recorded the highest losses, declining by 68 points, and declined.

The services sector index rose 22 points, and the Sharia index lost one point and closed at 441 points. Last week, the prices of 41 securities declined, compared to 21 securities whose prices rose, and 12 securities that stabilized at their previous levels. The declines recorded by the stocks led to a decline in the market value of securities listed on the stock exchange at the end of last week to 23 billion and 926.7 million Omani riyals, recording weekly losses. At 14.5 million Omani riyals.

The trading value rose last week to 16 million and 37 thousand Omani riyals, compared to 8 million and 889 thousand Omani riyals in the previous week, but the number of executed deals decreased from 3,725 deals to 3,557 deals. National Bank topped the most traded companies in terms of trading value with 3.9 million Omani riyals, representing 24.6 percent of the total trading value. Omantel came second with trades at about 2.2 million Omani riyals, and OQ Gas Networks ranked third with trades at about 1.9 million Omani riyals. Sohar International Bank ranked fourth with 1.8 million Omani riyals, while Bank Muscat ranked fifth with trades worth one million and 716 thousand Omani riyals, representing 10.7 percent of the total trading value.

Al Jazeera Steel Products’ stock topped the most rising stocks, rising by 18.3 percent and closing at 284 baisas, Oman Investment and Finance Company’s stock rose by 11.1 percent and closing at 80 baisas, and Voltamp Energy’s stock rose to 152 baisas, rising by 8.5 percent. Omani Fish shares recorded the highest losses, declining by 12.5 percent and closing at 42 baisas, Al Madina Investment Holding shares declined by 10 percent and closing at 45 baisas, and Oman and Emirates Holding Company shares fell to 47 baisas, down by 9.6 percent.