Oman

BankMuscat maintains its leading position in the Oman banking sector and continued solid growth in market indicators and performance make it the award winner again this year. The bank has also been able to expand on the international scene with the acquisition of a strategic 26% stake in India’s Centurion Bank, in which it has merged its current India operations. In 2003, BankMuscat was able to increase its net profits by 18.2% to $70m, providing a reasonable 19.9% return on equity, higher than any of its competitors. The bank has a market share of 34% in terms of total assets, 37.7% of total credits and 34% of customer credits, making it almost double the size of its nearest competitor. It is also the only Omani bank to be assigned an investment grade by four international rating agencies. “At the core of BankMuscat’s strength, and consequent success, lies its clarity of vision and relentless pursuit of excellence,” says chief executive Abdul Razak Ali Issa. “These factors married with sound strategy, an uncompromising quest for the finest of banking products and services, a motivated and focused team of people and continual monitoring and upgrading of our service standards has helped us bring the best of banking to Oman and the countries in which we operate.”