DOHA: Driven by continued strong performances in Qatar, Algeria and Iraq, Ooredoo’s Group revenue grew by 2.6 percent to QR25.65bn during the first nine months of 2013 on year-on-year. Excluding foreign exchange impact, the group’s net profit for the nine months increased by 12 percent compared with the same period in 2012.
As at September 30, 2013, the croup’s consolidated customer base stood at 89.6 million, representing year-on-year growth of 0.4 percent. Group EBITDA in the period decreased to QR11.29bn compared to QR11.67bn during the corresponding period in 2012. EBITDA margin at the end of September 2013 was 44 percent Vs 47 percent reported for the same period of 2012.
Net profit attributable to Ooredoo shareholders dropped to QR2.06bn from QR2.15bn, representing a four percent year-on-year decrease. The net profit was largely impacted by the QR466m foreign exchange loss for the third quarter of 2013.
Commenting on the results, Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo said: “Our success as a business comes from the strength of our relationship with our customers. Throughout the year, as we have transformed our brand and executed our strategy for growth, we have remained focused on supporting human growth in all its aspects. Through new initiatives such as investments in sports sponsorship, youth coaching and other community programmes, we are making a positive contribution to the lives of our customers and reinforcing our role as a trusted provider and partner. We look to the final quarter with confidence and believe that we are well placed for a robust outcome to the year as a whole.”
Dr Nasser Marafih, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo said: “Ooredoo has continued to produce strong revenue growth in this period, with particularly impressive performances from Ooredoo Qatar, Nedjma and Asiacell. Our customers continue to respond positively to our services, particularly to the new product areas made possible by our next generation networks. Our focus on the best customer experience and the most reliable networks is helping to drive our business growth, and we look forward to a significant step-change in our services in Algeria, where we have received a new 3G licence, and in our newest market of Myanmar. We believe that communication technology can transform people’s lives, and that is what we intend to do across our global footprint.”
The group’s operational performance showed Ooredoo Qatar delivering impressive results for the group during the third quarter, with revenue growing by 4.6 percent year-on-year to QR4.86bn and a consolidated customer base of 2.8m compared to 2.4m in September 2012. EBITDA performance showed a decrease of 3.5 percent year-on-year to QR 2.37bn.
Ooredoo Qatar significantly enhanced its product portfolio during the quarter, with a range of new services tailored for high-end and business customers. In particular, the full commercial launch of 4G services for prepaid and postpaid customers, delivered during Q3 2013, offers the potential of significant returns and strengthens Ooredoo’s position as the leading provider of 4G LTE in the region.
On the group’s operations in Indonesia, the financial results noted that Indosat’s year-on-year revenue increase was driven by cellular data and fixed data business. Foreign Exchange rates had a negative impact this quarter and year-on-year comparisons should also take into account the one-off positive effect in Q3 2012 of the completion of the Indosat tower sale.
Wataniya Telecom or National Mobile Telecommunications Company encompasses the Ooredoo Group’s businesses in Kuwait, Tunisia, Algeria, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Maldives and Palestine. It’s revenue for nine months of 2013 was QR 7.22bn, a year-on-year decrease of 1.2 percent while EBITDA dropped to QR2.83bn from QR3bn.
The operations in Oman continued to build positively over the first nine months of this year. At 30 September 2013, Nawras’ consolidated customer base stood at 2.3 million customers compared to 2.1 million for nine months in 2012.
Asiacell in Iraq recorded revenue of QR5.31bn in the first nine months of 2013, representing year-on-year growth of 5.3 percent.
The Peninsula
