OEFI getting fresh capital
Fresh capital amounting to RO4.2 million ($10.9 million) is planned to be injected into the Omani Euro Food Industries (OEFI) by three investors, media reports said.
The investors include two overseas firms. OEFI is a leading manufacturer of instant baby food products and milk powder in the Sultanate.
The reports quoted Awad Mohammed Faraj Bamkhalef, chairman, as saying 97 per cent of the existing capital of RO4.3 million would be written off to adjust accumulated losses and thereafter fresh capital would be injected to turn around the company.
NRM restructuring capital base
Oman’s National Rice Mills (NRM) is to get fresh finance of RO4.5 million to restructure its capital base.
The proposal to revive the ailing company is awaiting final clearance from banks and the government.
The company posted a 2002 net loss of RO 1.07 million. At the end of December 2002, the company’s accumulated losses reached RO6.72 million.
Under the plan, NRM’s present paid-in capital of RO2.5 million will be slashed to RO0.5 million after write-offs of RO2 million. The additional RO4.5 million will come from a rights issue.
Cement company gets new loan
Oman Arab Bank (OAB) has signed a seven-year loan agreement for $7.8 million with the Salalah-based Raysut Cement Company (RCC) to replace an existing high-interest loan the company had taken. The new loan will enable RCC to reduce its financing cost substantially, which, in turn, will improve its profitability.
RCC has a production capacity of 750,000 tonnes per year. RCC is one of two manufacturers of cement in Oman and sells most of its production in the domestic market. Exports go to the Gulf states, Yemen, and East Africa.
Export sales constitute about 46 per cent of the total sales. RCC registered sales of RO13.4 million in 2002, a growth of 15 per cent over the previous year.
A change of feedstock from oil to natural gas and better sales realisations helped improve the financials of the company. It made a net profit of RO2.3 million during the first half of 2003.
