Qatar-based Ooredoo Group, an international telecom company, has reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of QR2.118 billion ($578 million) in 2015, compared to QR2.134 billion in the previous year.

At the end of 2015, Ooredoo Group’s consolidated customer base stood at 117 million (FY 2014: 107 million), a 9 per cent increase on 2014. Group revenue for the period decreased by 3 per cent to QR32.161 billion from QR33.207 billion in 2014.

Excluding Foreign Exchange translation impact, 2015 group revenue would have increased by 4 per cent YoY, compared to a decline of 3 per cent reported, the company said.

Group EBITDA increased by 1 per cent exceeding QR13 billion in 2015 with an improved EBITDA margin of 40 per cent. Excluding Foreign Exchange translation impact, 2015 Group EBITDA would have increased by 8 per cent YoY indicating a strong underlying operational performance. Quarterly EBITDA increased by 11 per cent YoY to QR3 billion in Q4 2015.

Excluding foreign exchange impact, Group Net Profit to Ooredoo shareholders in 2015 would have increased by 6 per cent YoY, it said.
 
Supported by an improvement in emerging market currencies towards the end of the year, the quarterly net profit to Ooredoo shareholders stood at QR360 million in Q4 2015, an increase of 551 per cent compared with QR55 million in Q4, 2014 which was impacted by one-off customer acquisition and handset costs in Algeria.

Group earnings per share stood at QR6.61 in 2015, compared to QR6.66 in 2014.

Group data revenues demonstrated robust growth during 2015 as Ooredoo enhanced network speeds and coverage across markets and focused on data package offerings to customers. Data revenue increased to QR12 billion in 2015 and now represents 37 per cent of the group revenue compared to 25 per cent in 2014, confirming the success of Ooredoo’s early adoption strategy.

Revenue in the B2B segment increased by 10 per cent YoY to QR5.2 billion in 2015, reflecting Ooredoo’s continued focus on B2B services and growth in the enterprise customer base.

The asset portfolio was further optimised by focusing on core assets across Ooredoo’s footprint. The sale of non-core wi-tribe Philippines was completed successfully in 2015.

Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Thani, chairman of Ooredoo, said: “Ooredoo Group delivered a strong performance in 2015 adding 9.5 million new customers and reaching a global customer base of 117 million. Despite currency volatility in emerging markets and the security situation in Iraq, our underlying financial and operational performance was solid. We grew revenue and EBITDA in local currency terms in our primary markets and continued to roll-out the Ooredoo brand across our footprint."

Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, group chief executive officer of Ooredoo said: “Ooredoo Group’s performance was robust during 2015 as we generated organic revenue growth in local currency terms in Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Algeria, Indonesia, Myanmar, Palestine and Maldives. This was partially offset by the challenges with the security situation in Iraq, a weakened Tunisian macro-economic environment and currency volatility in emerging markets."
 
Qatar and Oman delivered strong performances achieving double-digit revenue and EBITDA growth and margin improvement in 2015. Kuwait also increased its revenues by 6 per cent and EBITDA by 31 per cent with improved margin.

After the successful rebranding in Indonesia in 2015, eight Ooredoo markets are now fully Ooredoo branded. - TradeArabia News Service