Court ruling lifts shares of Bank Dhofar

Market Wrap: Bank Dhofar jumps 7 per cent as the Primary Court rules in its favour as part of a lawsuit dating back to as far as 2001.

Bank Dhofar, Oman's second biggest bank by market value, was up by 7 per cent after the Primary Court in Muscat ruled in its favour as part of a lawsuit filed by rival Oman International Bank and others.

The court overruled "the previous judgment of the Enforcement Court that imposed an attachment on 26.1 million rials from Bank Dhofar account," the lender said in a regulatory filing.

In late 2001, Ali Redha, a commodity trading company based in Oman, announced a default on a debt of 70m rials owed to local and international banks. Majan International Bank was one of the affected lenders and was forced to merge with BankDhofar. Majan's chairman was among the shareholders of Ali Redha. OIB said in its lawsuit it was owed the equivalent of 1.93 million BankDhofar shares as a result of losses incurred in the transaction. BankDhofar said it had disputed the claim.

Shares closed at 0.595 Omani rials a share on the Muscat Securities Market.

In the UAE, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index was down 0.8 per cent to 2663.13 points, while the Dubai Financial Market General Index lost 0.7 per cent to 1509.16 points.

Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait's index declined 0.2 per cent to 6065.30 points. Bahrain's index was unchanged at 1298.95 points. Oman's measure gained 0.2 per cent to 5939.45 points. Qatar's index was also unchanged at 8399.45 points. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index was down 0.7 per cent to 6475.47 points.