(Left) Sheikh Faisal bin Thani Al Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo and Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, Managing Director of Ooredoo
Doha: Ooredoo Group QPSC yesterday reported QR22.1bn revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, representing an increase of 3 percent compared to the same period last year.
The increase was mainly driven by growth in our home market Qatar, Indonesia, and Tunisia. Excluding FX impact, revenue increased by 6 percent.
Group EBITDA for the nine-month period was QR9.9bn with a corresponding EBITDA margin of 45 percent, driven by growth in Indonesia, Kuwait and Algeria. The EBITDA growth rate stood at 7 percent and at 10 percent excluding FX impact.
Ooredoo’s consolidated customer base increased by 2 percent to exceed 120 million due to strong performances in Indonesia, Oman, Algeria, and Iraq. Group net profit attributable to shareholders turned negative mainly due to FX losses and the impairments in Myanmar. The negative impact was partly offset by profit from the sale and leaseback of Indosat Ooredoo’s tower assets (QR1,000m) and reversals of COVID-19 FX provision. Excluding these one-offs and FX impact, net profit increased by 41 percent.
Commenting on the results, Sheikh Faisal bin Thani Al Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo, said: “We reported solid results for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 driven by the ongoing implementation of our digital strategy and cost optimisation programme. Revenues increased by 3 percent, and our EBITDA margin improved to 45 percent, up from 43 percent from 9M 2020, despite the challenges presented to us due to COVID-19.” “As a leader in the industry, we strive to provide reliable connectivity and innovative products to our customers, which has, in turn, resulted in increased customer confidence in the business and an increase in our customer base by an additional two percent,” he added.
Also commenting on the results, Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, Managing Director of Ooredoo said: “We are pleased to report the ongoing positive trend in the business as market activity improves in some of our core markets. This trend is even stronger excluding the FX impact with revenue growth of 6 percent and EBITDA growth of 10 percent.”
“Our net profit was impacted mainly due to FX losses and the impairment of our operations in Myanmar, due to the continued political unrest. The negative impact was partially offset by the gain realized on Indonesian tower sale and leaseback transaction. Excluding these one-offs and the FX impact, the net profit increased by 41 percent.”
“Our home market Qatar continues to deliver strong results with growth in revenue of 3 percent and a strong EBITDA margin of 54 percent. Our cost control measures resulted in an improved EBITDA for Ooredoo Kuwait and Ooredoo Algeria. Ooredoo Tunisia recorded an 8 percent increase in revenue for the nine-month period.”
He said that Ooredoo Oman’s customer base increased by 6 percent and Asiacell recorded 7 percent more customers. Indosat Ooredoo continues to deliver a strong set of results across the board, contributing significantly towards Group growth, with a 14 percent increase in revenue and an improved EBITDA margin of 50 percent.
“We expect to see significant growth following the proposed merger of Indosat Ooredoo and CK Hutchison which was announced in September. The merger will lead to the creation of a stronger number two telco operator in the Indonesian market and a new world-class digital telecoms and internet company for Indonesia,” he added.
He said that as a digital powerhouse, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison will generate greater value for customers, shareholders, as well as the country, backed by its two strong and experienced holding companies, who will retain joint control of the merged entity and support its future growth “We remain optimistic about the growth of the business and look forward to continuing to deliver long-term value to all our key stakeholders,” he added.
Ooredoo Qatar saw growth during the period. Reported revenue was up 3 percent year-on-year to QR5.4bn, driven by growth in post-paid services, business-to-business revenue, sales of Ooredoo TV, mobile financial services (MFS) and increased sales of devices.
EBITDA reached QR2.9bn with EBITDA margin at 54 percent in line with the previous year. Total customers were 3.1 million.
On July 26, Ooredoo Group announced a partnership with Quest, the first and largest Qatari company specializing in eSports to launch its own eSports brand, Ooredoo Nation – Gamers’ Land.
As part of the agreement, Ooredoo will be launching a series of products, services and initiatives specifically geared towards the gaming audience.
The company continuously aims to be the provider of choice for ICT services and content within Qatar. In the B2B space, it launched the new Aamali service on the My Ooredoo Business Portal, enabling small businesses to customise voice, data, and international calling allowances in a bespoke package. In addition, Ooredoo Qatar upgraded its Business Broadband portfolio and continued to transform and digitalise fixed-line corporate services. Ooredoo Qatar was recognised as Microsoft’s ‘Qatar Partner of the Year’ and by Moneygram as ‘Partner of the decade’.
Ooredoo Qatar’s focus on digitisation delivered significant cost savings, with more customers migrating to online self-care and self-service. Major sponsorships announced during the period include title sponsorship of Qatar’s first-ever Formula 1 race, which will be officially named the Formula 1 Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix, and a one-year renewal of the Ooredoo Cup.
Ooredoo Oman reported a decrease of 8 percent in revenue due to lower revenue in consumer mobile prepaid, increased competition in the market, as well as a slow recovering economy.
Ooredoo Oman’s customer base increased to 2.8 million in the nine months ended September 30 2021, compared to 2.6 million in the same period last year.
5G continues to perform exceedingly well in Oman driven by the continuous roll-out of 5G network with over 580 sites in total as of end September.
The COVID-19 pandemic and a decline in Kuwait’s population continued to put pressure on Ooredoo Kuwait’s performance during 2021. However, with the gradual ease of travel restrictions, supported by the stabilisation of oil prices, Kuwait’s population has witnessed a slight uptick. With this, the company reported a slight increase in revenue of QR1.9bn for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. EBITDA increased 16 percent, supporting an improved EBITDA margin of 30 percent, up from 26 percent compared to the same period last year.
Ooredoo Kuwait won the “fastest mobile network in Kuwait” in the Speedtest awards 2021 by a leading independent technology research company.
Asiacell reported revenue of QR2.8bn during 9M 2021, a decrease of 8 percent mainly due to the devaluation of the Iraqi Dinar by 20 percent.
Economic activity in Algeria is showing signs of a slow recovery, despite the continued depreciation of the Algerian Dinar, (-9 percent yoy). Ooredoo Algeria’s EBITDA increased by 6 percent for the nine months ended September 30 2021.
Ooredoo Tunisia delivered robust results despite an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, with revenue of QR1.2bn for the nine months ended September 30 2021, an increase of 8 percent compared to the same period last year.
Indosat Ooredoo continues to deliver strong growth, reporting a 14 percent increase in revenue to QR5.9bn for the nine months ended September 30 2021. EBITDA increased by 23 percent to QR2.9bn mainly driven by solid top line growth and cost optimisation.
Indosat Ooredoo’s relentless focus on customer experience and on offering innovative products led to an increase in the Company’s customer base by 3 percent.
In September, Ooredoo and CK Hutchison announced the proposed merger of Indosat Ooredoo and Hutchison 3 Indonesia (“H3I”). The merged entity, to be named Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, will strengthen its position as number two telco operator in the market and build on the complementary strengths of both companies.
