Vodafone Qatar, an affiliate of Vodafone Group, said on Thursday its first-quarter loss narrowed and named a new chairman of its board.

Vodafone, which ended Qatar Telecom's (Qtel) domestic monopoly in 2009, made a first-quarter net loss of 85 million riyals ($23.3 million) in the three months to June 30. That compares with a loss of 118.3 million riyals in the year-earlier period. The operator's financial year starts on April 1.

Quarterly revenue was 459 million riyals, up 31 percent on the same three months a year ago, according to the bourse statement.

Two analysts polled by Reuters forecast Vodafone Qatar would make a quarterly loss of 67 million and 65.5 million riyals.

Vodafone Qatar said it had named Sheikh Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah al-Thani as its new chairman of the board. He replaces Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Saud Al-Thani, who had chaired the company since June 2008.

Vodafone, which owns 23 percent of Vodafone Qatar, in November extended a contract to manage its Qatari affiliate until 2018.

Vodafone had 1.146 million mobile customers as of June 30, up 31 percent from a year earlier.

First-quarter average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metric for the telecom sector, was stable at 123 riyals, the statement added. – Reuters