Al Ahlia shares rise 6 per cent on first day

Shares of Al Ahlia Insurance, rose 6 per cent on its Muscat Securities Market on the first day of trade on Thursday, benefiting from the good response from investors, both retailers as well as institutional, in a day when the benchmark index fell over 23 points.

A listing ceremony was held before the opening of the market in the presence of board members and officials of the company along with the senior management of Capital Market Authority (CMA). The scrip opened at 318bz and touched a high of 33 bz. According to market data, around 14.6mn shares of Al Ahlia worth around RO4.7mn changed hands on the first day of trading.

Speaking at the ceremony, H E Abdullah Salim Abdullah al Salmi executive president CMA said,” I congratulate the company for completing a successful IPO. Now, Al Ahlia Insurance has become the first insurance company to be listed on Muscat Securities Market according to the new royal decree. It is good to set up examples for other companies to follow. I hope that by the end of this month, most of the insurance companies will become public listed companies.”

Al Ahlia offered 25mn shares at an offer price of 300bz per share (comprising a nominal value of 100bz and a premium of 200bz). The IPO represented an offer of 25 per cent of the share capital of the company. As much as 65 per cent of the offered shares in the IPO was reserved for small investors applying from a minimum of 1,000 shares to a maximum of 250,000 shares. Remaining 35 per cent of the offered shares were reserved for large investors applying for a minimum of 250,100 shares up to a maximum of 2.5mn shares.

The RO7.5mn offering was comfortably oversubscribed and attracted strong levels of demand from both retail and institutional investors across the country, making it the first successful IPO in 2017. This raised expectations among retail investors, as many were hoping for around 30 per cent premium over the issue price.

Reacting to the listing price of the company, a senior official said, “Looking at the prevailing market conditions, it is still a very good one.”

Al Ahlia is backed by strong promoters led by RSA Insurance Group and well supported by experienced local shareholders namely Ominvest, WJ Towell Group and OHI Group.