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NET PROFIT UP 46pc

Sheikh Abdulla: Ooredoo continues to generate value

Ooredoo Group posts H1 revenue of $4.36bn

DOHA, July 27, 2016

Qatar-based telecom group Ooredoo has posted revenues of QR15.9 billion ($4.36 billion) for the first half (H1) of the year, as against revenues of QR16.04 billion for H1 2015, marking a dip of one per cent.

Group EBITDA stable at QR6.5 billion with an improved EBITDA margin of 41 per cent compared to last year indicating a continued improvement in operational performance from Q1 2016. Excluding foreign exchange translation impact, Group EBITDA would have increased by 3 per cent year-on-year, a statement said.

Group net profit increased by 46 per cent to QR1.5 billion driven by strong contributions from Indonesia, Myanmar and Algeria supported by positive foreign exchange movements.

Continued strong data growth from consumer and enterprise customers: data revenue increased to 39 per cent of Group revenue (H1 2015: 34 per cent).  Revenue from data contributed QR6.2 billion in H1 2016.

Sheikh Abdulla Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani, chairman of Ooredoo, said: “This has been a good first half of the year for Ooredoo.  Despite the challenges of the global economy and a number of market specific issues, Ooredoo continues to generate value.”

“We are successfully implementing our digital strategy across our markets, making world class communication services available to our consumer and enterprise customers.  The investments we are making in our data networks and services are leading to good operational trends across the business. Customers increasingly see Ooredoo as a digital communications company, offering the best services across our voice and data networks.”

Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, Group chief executive officer of Ooredoo said: “We have seen some good operational improvements across our businesses during the first six months of the year.  Both revenue and EBITDA were robust for the period at QR16 billion and QR6.5 billion respectively.”

“Group EBITDA margin actually improved to 41 per cent driven by better efficiencies in the following countries:  Indonesia, where we acquired almost 12 million new customers; Algeria, where we are getting ready to launch 4G services; Myanmar, where we are making good progress and have launched 4G already; and even in Iraq, despite the difficult security situation. Revenue growth continued in Oman and Qatar.

“Kuwait continues to perform well in a highly competitive market, improving both revenue and EBITDA.  Tunisia was impacted by the ongoing economic slowdown in the country. However, Tunisia grew its customer base by 4 per cent and improved revenue and EBITDA quarter-on-quarter,” he added.

“We now have 8 of our 10 operators within the Ooredoo Group offering 4G networks. Data growth across the business has been strong, reflecting our ability to deliver highly valued data services to our customers across best in class data networks,” Sheikh Saud noted.

“Data as a percentage of group revenue is now 39 per cent, compared to 34 per cent for the first half of 2015. We successfully refinanced our USD 1 billion loan and launched a new USD 500 million bond in June. Strong support by our investors helped to reduce refinancing risk for the next few years.”

Ooredoo Qatar

Ooredoo Qatar customer numbers reached 3.4 million approximately in line with 1H 2015. Revenue was just over QR4 billion, a 1 per cent increase compared to H1 2015.  H1 2016 EBITDA stood at QR2 billion and Net Profit stood at QR1 billion – both in line with the previous year.

Ooredoo Oman

Ooredoo Oman delivered strong results for the first half of the year, with improvement in Revenue, EBITDA and Net Profit.  Ooredoo’s high quality, modern network attracted 2.8 million customers, an increase of 3 per cent year-on-year.

Ooredoo Kuwait

Revenue for H1 2016 was up 9 per cent to QR1.2 billion compared to H1 2015’s QR1.1 billion.  EBITDA stood at QR257 million, up 3 per cent versus EBITDA for H1 2015 of QR250 million with a stable EBITDA margin of 21 per cent.  Net Profit was QR26 million compared to QR55 million for the same period in 2015.  Ooredoo's customer base in Kuwait was 2.5 million at the end of H1 2016, in line with the first half of last year.

Asiacell – Iraq

Asiacell continued to be impacted by the security situation, the challenging economic environment and a decrease of customer purchasing power in Iraq.  Revenue stood at QR2.1 billion, down 15 per cent compared with QR2.5 billion in H1 2015. – TradeArabia News Service




Tags: Qatar | Net Profit | Ooredoo Oman |

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