Ooredoo Group’s first-quarter (Q1) net profit has jumped 75% year-on-year (y-o-y) to QR879mn as the telecom major benefited from “favourable foreign exchange rates in Myanmar and Indonesia.”
Group revenue reached QR7.9bn in Q1, 2016 supported by “strong revenue growth” in Oman, Indonesia, Myanmar, Kuwait and the Maldives, Ooredoo announced yesterday.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was marginally lower by 1% exceeding QR3bn in Q1 with a stable EBITDA margin of 40%.
Excluding foreign exchange translation impact, Q1 group EBITDA would have increased by 3% y-o-y, indicating a good underlying operational performance, Ooredoo said.
Data revenue contributed QR3bn in the first quarter. It increased further and covers now 38% of total group revenue (Q1, 2015: 30%) due to Ooredoo’s focus on network expansion and modernisation and its strategy of marketing innovative data services for individuals and businesses.
B2B revenue stood at QR1.4bn reflecting Ooredoo’s investment in services for business customers.
The group’s customer base reached 118mn at the end of the first quarter, a 6%, or 7mn, y-o-y increase, driven by strong acquisitions in Myanmar, Indonesia, Algeria and Qatar.
Ooredoo Qatar delivered a “positive” performance in the first quarter of 2016. Customer number reached 3.5mn, a 6% increase from a year earlier. Revenue reached almost QR2bn.
Building on its leadership position, Ooredoo Qatar launched a new digital premium television service, Ooredoo TV, in February 2016. The service is the region’s first commercial 4K TV offering, combining apps, on-demand and live television in one box and taking home entertainment in Qatar to a new level.
The company also continued to enhance its offering for the business segment in Qatar, delivering on-going growth for its Ooredoo Mobile Money payroll service, which supports companies across the country.
In addition, Ooredoo entered into an agreement with Microsoft to resell the software giant’s Office 365-based cloud solutions to customers in Qatar and market a new set of business devices.
Ooredoo continued with its “Ooredoo Supernet” network enhancement programme throughout the first quarter, successfully piloting Voice over LTE (VoLTE) across a substantial part of its nationwide network ahead of the service’s commercial launch later in the year.
Ooredoo chairman Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohamed bin Saud al-Thani said, “Ooredoo has delivered solid results to start the year. Our diverse range of services attracted 7mn new customers and we now have 118mn customers globally. Revenue and EBITDA grew in local currency terms, demonstrating the strength of our underlying business. Reported net profit was up by 75%, benefiting from favourable foreign exchange rates in Myanmar and Indonesia.
“We have streamlined our portfolio with the sale of wi-tribe Pakistan and are concentrating on our core technologies. We have invested in the Ooredoo networks to ensure we can provide customers with the fastest, most reliable digital communication services and deliver value for its shareholders. Ooredoo plays a crucial role in connecting and developing the citizens of the emerging economies where we operate as we position ourselves as a leading digital provider for our customers.”
Ooredoo Group CEO Sheikh Saud bin Nasser al-Thani said, “The first three months of 2016 demonstrated robust performances in our key markets of Qatar, Oman, Indonesia and Myanmar. Our results have been impacted by the challenges in Iraq due to the security situation as well as the sustained economic slowdown in Tunisia. However, in Tunisia we maintained our market leadership position and have launched 4G services last month. Ooredoo Algeria has submitted a 4G licence bid earlier this month.
“Indosat Ooredoo is enjoying very good traction with the recently launched 4G network, growing both revenue and EBITDA in double digits in local currency terms. Revenue in Kuwait has been increasing and in order to serve our customers with a full scope of advanced fixed broadband and mobile services, we are in the process of acquiring a Kuwaiti Internet Service Provider. Ooredoo Oman and Ooredoo Maldives have been performing extremely well, growing double digits in terms of Revenue, EBITDA and net profit.”
Group revenue reached QR7.9bn in Q1, 2016 supported by u201cstrong growthu201d in Oman, Indonesia, Myanmar, Kuwait and the Maldives, Ooredoo announced yesterday.
