Muscat Finance – Ratings on Oman National Scale Affirmed; Outlook Remains Negative

Ref: OM025 2 2 CRA 00-0 1 8 May 2024

Muscat Finance – Ratings on Oman National Scale Affirmed ; Outlook Re mains Negative

Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI Ratings or CI) today announced that it has affirmed the Long-Term issuer r ating on the Oman National Scale of Muscat Finance S.A.O.G. (MF) at ‘omA-’ . The Short-Term rating on the same scale has been affirmed at ‘omA2’. The Outlook on the ratings remains Negative .

MF’s ratings are underpinned by its sound franchise as the oldest NBFI in Oman, comfortable leverage (albeit too low for proper profitability), and well-established and still fairly wide banking panel base. While a conservative business model and a cautious lending policy are usually positives, these virtues can be an obstacle to growth a s has been the case with MF over the past few years. The declining trend in the financing receivables ( FR ) book was further compounded by the impact of the pandemic…