The successful completion of the Nawras initial public offering (IPO) was a small victory where there could have been a large one.
The Omani telecommunications operator raised 182 million rials by selling 260 million shares. It was also the country's first share offering done through a book-building process and its biggest IPO since 2005.
Given the dismal state of the capital markets in the Gulf for the past couple of years, all of those achievements are laudable.
But the shares were priced at 702 baisas a share, near the bottom of the expected range, amid lukewarm demand from retail investors who took up less than 40 per cent of shares.
Nawras, which is controlled by Qatar Telecom (Qtel), had reserved as much as 70 per cent of the offer for retail investors, with the rest set aside for institutional investors. This month, Nawras extended the IPO period by a week due to the sluggish response on the retail front.
"Nawras raised only 70m Omani rials from retail investors and 112m Omani rials came from institutional investors," a source familiar with the IPO told Reuters.
"Clearly, the retail investors did not have much appetite for the IPO and it was left to institutional investors to come to the rescue."
Nawras will list the shares on the Muscat bourse starting on November 1.
Nawras broke the monopoly of the state-controlled Omantel in 2006. It aimed to raise up to US$608m if the shares had reach-ed the top price of 902 baisas.
It seems clear Nawras did the right thing by postponing its plans for an IPO in February.
But such a qualified success may not be the catalyst some market watchers were expecting to fire up the IPO market in the Gulf.
Qtel retains a 55 per cent ownership stake in Nawras and Omani pension funds hold another 5 per cent. The rest is publicly floated on the Omani stock market.
* with Reuters
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday Stuttgart v Cologne (Kick-off 10.30pm UAE)
Saturday RB Leipzig v Hertha Berlin (5.30pm)
Mainz v Borussia Monchengladbach (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Union Berlin v SC Freiburg (5.30pm)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (5.30pm)
Sunday Wolfsburg v Arminia (6.30pm)
Werder Bremen v Hoffenheim (9pm)
Bayer Leverkusen v Augsburg (11.30pm)
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