DOHA: Vodafone Qatar delivered solid improvements in its financial and operational performance during the first half of the year ended June 30, 2018. The total revenue of the Company increased by 1.7 percent compared to the same period last year to reach QR1.05bn, driven by a growth in Postpaid subscribers and fixed and higher handset sales.
Half yearly EBITDA increased by 5.2 percent year-on-year to QR284m driven by higher revenue, lower Operating Expenses (OPEX) and a one-off provision release. This resulted in an EBITDA margin expansion of 0.9 percentage points from 26.1 percent in H1 FY2017 to 27 percent in H1 FY2018. Compared to the previous quarter, EBITDA increased by 11 percent majorly due to lower OPEX. Accordingly, EBITDA margin also improved 3.4 percentage points quarter on quarter and stood at 28.7 percent in Q2 2018.
The Company reported its first half yearly net profit of QR49m, an increase of QR180m compared to H1 2017, driven by higher EBITDA and lower amortisation costs due to the extension of its mobile telecommunications licence. Compared to the previous quarter, net profit increased by QR14m and stood at QR31m in Q2 2018. Net profit excluding amortisation for H1 2018, which is the distributable profit of the Company, increased by 29.5 percent to reach QR91m.
By the end of June 2018, Postpaid customers grew by 22.3 percent compared to the same period last year, led by the Company’s innovative products and the popularity of the FLEX, Red and Enterprise plans. Consequently, the Average Revenue Per User increased by 6.2 percent or QR7 year-on-year to reach QR108. Vodafone Qatar is now serving 1,390,000 customers, with a decline of 1.4 percent compared to last quarter, due to the holiday period.
The net debt of the Company further reduced by QR66m in the six months ended 30 June 2018 to QR554m.
Commenting on the results, Sheikh Hamad Abdulla Jassim Al Thani (pictured), CEO, Vodafone Qatar said: “I am pleased to report another quarter of steady growth and strong financial performance. We continued to focus on operational efficiency and enhancing our customer experience, in addition to investing in our fixed and mobile capabilities. We recently made a number of major announcements including the Company’s roll out of fibre connectivity in Lusail City, The Pearl-Qatar, Industrial areas and others.”
“The roll out of our ambitious fixed line plans in locations around the country will be instrumental in driving forward Qatar’s digital agenda, as will be Vodafone Qatar’s 5G services that will be launched before the end of the year. We are committed to building a world class connectivity infrastructure that will accelerate the State of Qatar towards becoming one of the most connected and technologically advanced countries in the world in support of Qatar National Vision 2030," he added.
