Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo Group
Doha: Telecom major Ooredoo reported a consolidated revenue of QR14.1bn for the first half of 2020, reflecting a 3 percent year-on-year slip due to the COVID-19 impact. EBITDA declined by 5 percent year-on-year to QR6.0bn and the Group’s net profit attributable to Ooredoo shareholders declined by 3 percent to QR818m in H1 2020, compared to the same period last year.
A reduction in handset sales and roaming business as well as macroeconomic weakness in some of our markets was partially offset by robust growth in Indonesia, Tunisia and Myanmar. EBITDA was impacted by movement restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19 in key markets as well as challenging market conditions in Algeria, Kuwait, Iraq and Oman. The reduction in net profit attributable to shareholders was due to the fall in EBITDA which was partially offset by a more favorable Foreign Exchange environment compared to the same period last year.
Data revenues account for more than 50 percent of total revenue driven by our data leadership and digital transformation initiatives across the countries we operate in. The financial results suggest Ooredoo Group has healthy cash reserve and liquidity levels to be able to absorb the impact of COVID-19 for the year 2020.
Commenting on the results, Sheikh Faisal bin Thani Al Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo, said: “Ooredoo Group, with its strong balance sheet and geographically diversified operations, has built a resilient business to successfully navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to our strong digital capabilities, and innovative technology, Ooredoo Group was able to partially contain the erosion in its bottom line, despite the decline in revenues. Consequently, Ooredoo Group reported Net Profits of QR 818 million for the first half of 2020, which were slightly down compared to the same period last year.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our world in an unprecedented manner and has impacted every aspect of our lives. Throughout this period, our priorities at Ooredoo Group have been clear: the health and safety of our employees and customers; the continued provision of uninterrupted services to keep our customers connected at all times, and the empowerment of frontline workers and disadvantaged communities through CSR activities and donations. For our customers, we provided more value with free data offers, upgrades and bundles, free access to educational and health resources online and increased convenience with access to fully digital services.”
The Chairman said digital transformation and technology continue to be a driving force for Ooredoo Group and the Group’s early investments in this area have enabled Ooredoo to seamlessly respond to the new operating environment and serve our customers in a safe and convenient way. To accommodate the steep growth in data traffic during the pandemic, Ooredoo is continuously optimising data traffic flows across our fixed and mobile networks.
Additionally, experience sharing and cross-OpCo collaboration activities were implemented to help reduce the required resources and time to market. “These efforts have enabled us to stay true to our mission of enriching the digital lives of our customers, which is now more important than ever, and therefore, we have managed to accelerate our digital transformation plans across all markets. We now offer 5G speeds in three of our markets, with Ooredoo Oman being the latest to launch 5G Home Internet plans in Q2 2020 and 5G trials are ongoing in Indonesia, Myanmar and Maldives.”
Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo said: “Ooredoo Group reported revenues of QR14.1bn in H1 2020, down 3 percent year-on-year due to movement restrictions designed to contain the spread of the pandemic, reductions in handset sales and macroeconomic weakness in some of our other markets. This was partially offset by strong performances in Indonesia, Tunisia and Myanmar. Indosat Ooredoo’s revenues increased 6 percent, driven by its refreshed strategy and Ooredoo Tunisia’s value creation plan supported a 6 percent rise in its revenues. Strong demand for data supported an 8 percent increase in Ooredoo Myanmar’s revenue during the period. The 5 percent year-on-year decline in Group EBITDA during H1 2020 was due to declining revenue and challenging market conditions in Algeria, Kuwait, Iraq and Oman.
“Across all our OpCos we remain committed to carefully optimising costs and driving operational efficiencies”, Sheikh Saud said.. “In our home market of Qatar, our post-paid customer base crossed the half a million mark and the 5G plans launched in December attracted over 200,000 customers already. In Kuwait and Oman, we have partnered with the respective Ministry of Education to launch e-learning platforms from home for the upcoming school year 2020–2021. With digitalization at our core, we continue to invest in new products and services to power the future of connectivity. In Oman we launched 5G Home Internet which enables customers to experience connectivity up to 10 times faster than the current home internet services, while bringing high speed internet access to new areas of the country, and in Algeria we continue to operate the fastest 4G network in the country spanning all 48 Wilayas.”
Ooredoo Qatar withstood significant pressure and strengthened its leadership position during the first half of 2020, despite the unique challenges created by the global COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on roaming revenue and shop accessibility in particular. Reported revenue was down 4 percent year-on-year to QR3.5bn (H1 2019: QR3.7bn). EBITDA stood at QR1.9bn (H1 2019: QR2.1bn). Customer numbers were 3.4 million, up 1.3 percent year-on-year. The strength of Ooredoo Qatar’s network proved an important asset during the period, as the company re-optimised its mobile and fixed network to accommodate a significant increase in data traffic demand and extended network and telecom support to quarantine centres and hubs across the country. In addition, more than 200,000 customers have now signed-up for Shahry 5G and Qatarna 5G plans.
