National Mobile Telecommunications Company (Ooredoo Kuwait) said its net profit for 2016 surged to KD46.7 million ($152.5 million) in 2016, up 75 per cent from KD26.7 million ($87.2 million) for the same period the previous year.

Announcing the results for 2016, the Kuwaiti telecom major said its total customer base increased by six per cent to 25.2 million in 2016, compared to 23.8 million the year before.

Ooredoo's customer base in Kuwait stood at 2.3 million at the end of 2016, up three per cent over the previous year.

The consolidated earnings per share was 93 fils compared to 53 fils  per share earned for the same period last year, stated the company.

Good performances in its overseas operations in the Maldives supported the surge in profit. Additionally the net profit in 2015 contained a non-cash KWD 16.7 million impairment loss on investment in Tunisia due to the economic challenges in the market.

However, its revenues for 2016 fell two per cent to KD706.8 million from the previous year's revenue of KD718.4 million.

The ebitda for 2016 stood at KD240.2 million, compared to KD250.2 million for the same period in 2015, it added.

On the performance, Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al Thani, chairman of the board, Ooredoo Kuwait, said: “During 2016, Ooredoo consolidated its leading position across key markets, with customer base increasing 6 per cent to reach more than 25 million."

Ooredoo maintained a stable ebitda of KD240 million for the year ended 2016, he stated.

In a highly competitive market, Ooredoo Kuwait cemented its position as a leading ICT company with the acquisition of “FASTtelco”, a Kuwait-based ISP, through which it can expand its offer of advanced fixed broadband and mobile services, he added.

Sheikh Saud said the company registered a five per cent increase in revenues and maintained a healthy ebitda of KD51 million.

A significant development for the year was the increase in the number of LTE sites deployed by Ooredoo Kuwait. By the end of 2016 it had successfully covered the entire populated area of Kuwait, he noted.

"In Algeria the six per cent growth in our customer base was supported by successful marketing strategies, network upgrades and deployments. With the launch of 4G and continued expansion of the 3G network, Ooredoo Algeria covered a vast majority of the population by the end of the year," stated the chairman.

Due to continued currency depreciation and challenges associated with the slowdown of tourism, Ooredoo Tunisia saw a slight decrease in revenue.

Despite these challenges, we maintained our market leadership and grew our customer base by 6 per cent to 8 million at the end of 2016. In local currency terms revenue actually increased by 4 per cent year on year, he added.

In Maldives, Sheikh Saud said the group increased revenues by 33 per cent to reach KD32 million and showed significant growth in profitability, ebitda increased 56 per cent to KD17 million in 2016.

"Ooredoo Maldives is well positioned to continue delivering growth as it is preparing for the public listing in 2017 on the local stock exchange," he pointed out.

On its Palestinian unit, Sheikh Saud said the Wataniya Palestine put up a strong performance in 2016 thus adding more customers and strengthening its market position.

"With a 10 per cent growth in its customer base, it now serves more than three quarters of a million customers. Wataniya Palestine also maintained profitability and delivered revenues of KD25 million for the year ended 2016," he stated.

Sheikh Saud said that impressed with the perfomance the board has recommended distribution of cash dividends valued 85 per cent of the nominal value of share (equivalent to 85 Fils) to the shareholders.-TradeArabia News Service