Bahrain Telecommunications Co (Batelco) has posted a net profit of BD13.31 million ($35.29 million) in the second quarter of the year, up from BD10.44 million ($27.5 million) in the year-earlier period, reflecting a 27.5 per cent increase.

For the first six months of the year, the Group reported a net profit of BD27.5 million ($72.9 million) versus BD24.9 million ($66.0 million) for the corresponding period in 2014, an increase of 11 per cent year over year, though a 7 per cent decrease since last quarter.

The improved profits for the period are mainly due to cost savings in 2015, increased yield on invested cash, lower interest expense and non-recurrence of adjustments taken in 2014.

EBITDA for the period was BD69.8 million ($185.1 million), representing a healthy margin of 38 per cent, compared to EBITDA of BD71.9 million ($190.7 million) for the corresponding period in 2014, a 3 per cent decrease year over year and  4 per cent  quarter on quarter.

The Group’s gross revenues for the period showed a decrease, down by 5 per cent year-on-year and 2 per cent quarter-on-quarter to BD185.7 million ($492.6 million) from BD194.6 million ($516.2 million) mainly due to competitive pressures in key markets and currency translation.

Operating profit for the period was BD36.1 million ($95.8 million) versus BD39.1million ($103.7 million) for the corresponding period in 2014 reflecting an 8 per cent decrease year over year and a 6 per cent decrease over the first quarter of 2015.

While Batelco Group’s overall subscriber numbers are up by 4 per cent year on year, there has been a marked decline in the customer base in Sabafon, Yemen, since last quarter due to the difficult operating environment in the country, which has negatively impacted profits. Nonetheless, Batelco’s overseas operations overall remain strong and at the end of the six month period, 59 per cent of Revenues and 56 per cent of EBITDA were attributable to operations outside of Bahrain. This is compared with 57 per cent of revenues and 52 per cent of EBITDA in the first half of 2014.

The Group’s balance sheet remained strong; as of 30 June 2015 net assets were BD577.7 million ($1,532.4) with substantial cash balances of BD135.9 million ($360.5 million). Earnings per share were 16.6 fils and the Board of Directors approved an interim cash dividend for shareholders of 10 fils per share for the six month period.

Batelco chairman Shaikh Hamad bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, said that Batelco Group is pleased to report a double digit increase in net profit during the period, despite the challenging environments in its key markets.

“The Group’s efforts to improve competitiveness across all operations by leveraging on the Group’s combined technical capabilities, has contributed to the increase in overall subscriber numbers year over year,” Shaikh Hamad said.

“We continue to operate smartly through synergizing Group efforts. Accordingly, our operations outside of Bahrain continue to generate over half of our revenues and profits which meets our expectations and efforts to offset the impact of ongoing and aggressive competition at home,” he added.

Batelco Group A/chief executive Ihab Hinnawi said; “It is encouraging to report that customer numbers across the Group continue to grow. The Group’s subscriber base now stands at 9.4 million customers, a rise of 4 per cent year on year. This reflects pleasing gains made over the past year in the key markets of Bahrain and Jordan as well as across the majority of the Group’s subsidiaries. Reduced customer numbers in Yemen are the result of the political challenges present in that market.”

“Innovation in our approach to serving customers is key to our strategy and we will continue to focus on improving the products and services we provide in all markets of operation. By pooling of Group resources, technologies and expertise where possible, we aim to further enhance competitiveness and performance across our network of operations,” added Hinnawi.

Bahrain customers

For the period in Bahrain, mobile subscribers increased by 2 per cent year-over-year and by 2 per cent since Q1. The steady increase in mobile customers can be attributed to Batelco Bahrain’s delivery of value for money innovative voice and data products and services.

“The demand for the latest mobile services is relentless but we meet that challenge by continuously evolving our offers. Our choice of bundled packages featuring the latest smart devices with 4G LTE services and at value for money prices strengthens our competitiveness and wins us new customers,” Hinnawi noted.

“We are particularly delighted with the growth in our broadband customer base which has grown by 16 per cent year-on-year and by 4 per cent since Q1. Batelco’s Broadband packages, delivering speeds of up to 300 Mbps, include options to suit all usage requirements and ensure the continuing popularity of our offers.”

Looking forward

“We remain focused on our customers at home and overseas to ensure our provisioning exceeds their expectations. We are committed to delivering a portfolio of products and services that is in line with world leading standards,” Shaikh Hamad said.

“In keeping with our strategic goals we will continue to invest in building, developing and enhancing infrastructure and services. We believe that the progress we are making in improving our competitiveness across all our operations will enable us to deliver improved results for shareholders in the second half of the year,” Shaikh Hamad concluded. – TradeArabia News Service & Reuters