Batelco Group, a top regional telecom group, has reported gross revenues of BD89.7 million ($237.9 million) for the first quarter (Q1) of the year, marking a marginal one per cent decrease year-on-year and 5 per cent drop over Q4 2016.

Revenues continue to be impacted by competitive pressure in a number of markets across the Group, it said in a statement.

EBITDA for the period was BD32.3 million ($85.7 million), representing a margin of 36 per cent.  Despite an 8 per cent decline over Q1 2016, EBITDA increased by 7 per cent from the previous quarter.  The Group continues to sustain its robust EBITDA margin as a result of its cost containment programmes.

For the period, the Group net profit was BD8.2 million ($21.8 million); a 14 per cent decline compared to Q1 2016 but up by 58 per cent over the previous quarter.  Net profit during Q1 2017 was impacted by a BD1.5 million ($4 million) share of loss from the company’s associate in Yemen, the statement said.

The Group’s balance sheet continues to be strong with net assets of BD525.8 million ($1,394.7 million) and substantial cash and bank balances of BD180.1 million ($477.7 million). Earnings per share for the first quarter of 2017 are 4.9 fils.

The telco’s subscriber base reached 9.2 million, an increase of 2 per cent year-on-year.

Batelco Group chairman Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said: “We continue to be responsive to changes in the various markets we operate in and strive to deliver relevant services and solutions that most suit our customers in each location. Strengthening our digital capabilities remains high on the agenda in a number of the Group’s operations; accordingly we are investing in fibre networks and the development of our digital solutions portfolio.”

“Batelco Bahrain aims to provide high speed internet for the majority of Bahrain’s homes, businesses and government bodies in line with the Government of Bahrain’s 4th National Telecom plan. We are focussed on playing our part in ensuring that Bahrain is among the best connected countries in the wider region,” Shaikh Mohamed added.

Batelco Group CEO Ihab Hinnawi said that customers’ needs continue to evolve in line with global trends towards a digital world marked by smart home and smart city living.

“This is reflected by growing subscriber numbers for mobility and broadband in a number of our operations, leading to a 2 per cent overall increase in the group’s customer base compared to 2016,” he said.

“It is pleasing to note that Batelco Bahrain posted YoY increases in fixed and broadband customers of 4 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.”

“We are also delighted to note that Dhiraagu, our operation in the Maldives continues to report growing customer numbers with 5 per cent and 8 per cent YoY increases in mobile and broadband subscribers.  Similarly, Sure in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man reported increased YoY fixed line and broadband subscribers of 4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively.”

“We have a number of Group-wide initiatives in place as well as programmes specific to each geographic location. We endeavour to enable the best-in-class products, services and solutions for consumers and businesses and anticipate that these efforts will boost performance across the Group going forward,” Hinnawi added.

For the period, 59 per cent of revenues and 54 per cent of EBITDA was attributable to operations outside of Bahrain, the statement said.

Hinnawi continued by stating that in Bahrain the availability of superfast fibre services is having a positive impact on customer numbers with broadband subscriber numbers up by 9 per cent over Q4 2016 and 33 per cent year over year.

“Our fibre rollout continues to be very successful as we push to reach all areas of the Kingdom including new residential and business locations and replacing out of date infrastructure with the latest technologies,” he explained.

“Partnerships continue to be of high value to us and during the first quarter we announced a mobile network enhancement deal for 2017-2018 in collaboration with Ericsson. The agreement will have a huge impact on the user experience through improved Mobile internet coverage and service quality and furthermore, it will enable Batelco to start the journey to 5G and IoT by providing network virtualization services and improved 3G and LTE indoor capacity for customers.

Bahrain is a very cosmopolitan location with residents travelling far and wide; to support their communication need whilst on the move, Batelco now offers Data Roaming bolt-on services in over 50 locations, delivering unlimited Data at reasonable fixed rates. This service is proving to be very popular and we continue to add new countries regularly,” noted Hinnawi.

“Batelco Bahrain’s digitisation goals will continue to take high priority throughout 2017 as we develop our portfolio for all customers, with a strong emphasis on the evolving needs of the business sector in line with our role as the Kingdom’s foremost enterprise solutions provider,” added Hinnawi.

“By building on the strength of the Group, through pooling of resources, technologies and expertise, we have the capability to enhance our competitiveness and boost customer numbers and financial performance.  Batelco’s teams throughout all our operations are committed to working together to deliver on the Group’s strategic aims in order to exceed customer expectations and grow value for our shareholders,” Shaikh Mohamed concluded. – TradeArabia News Service