The Vice-Chairman of Mannai Corporation, Sheikh Suhaim bin Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Thani (centre), with other members of the board of directors, attending at the Extraordinary General Assembly held at the InterContinental Hotel in Doha yesterday. Pic: Sali
DOHA: The shareholders of Mannai Corporation yesterday gave their approval to all the items on the agenda of the meeting, including the Board’s proposal to issue bonds worth $600m (about QR2.18bn).
The company is raising funds for general corporate purposes, including, but not limited to, the refinancing of exiting debts.
The bonds will constitute perpetual instruments with no fixed maturity date, redeemable at the company’s will option on certain specified dates.
“These bonds are not aimed at acquisition purposes. When we acquired the French IT firm—GFI Informatique, we had bank loans. So the purpose of this bond issuance is also to repay some of that loans,” Alekh Grewal, Group CEO and Director of Mannai Corporation told The Peninsula yesterday on the sidelines of the company’s Extraordinary General Assembly.
Grewal added: “The bonds are expected to hit the market by the second week of April. Currently we are still in the due diligence process with lawyers and banks.”
According to the agenda of yesterday’s meeting, the proposed bonds of the company are expected to listed on the Irish Stock Exchange plc, and to trading on its regulated market, or any other stock exchanges.
The Extraordinary General Assembly, which was chaired by Sheikh Suhaim bin Abdulla Al Thani, Vice-Chairman of Mannai Corporation, also approved the company’s financial results and the Board’s recommendation for the distribution of a 40 percent cash dividend for the year 2017.
The company reported a net profit of QR506m for the last financial year ended December 31, 2017. The group’s total revenue touched QR7.04bn for 2017. Earnings per share (EPS) of the company stood at QR11.09; and the return on equity was 18 percent higher.
The Chairman of the Board of Mannai Corporation Sheikh Hamad bin Abdulla Al Thani in a statement, said: “The Board of Directors has always appreciated the importance of the principles of Corporate Governance and recognised the importance of their application, even before issuance of the Code.
