Ooredoo Group posted a first quarter net profit of QR387mn, down 8% on the same period last year, the company said yesterday. 
The telecom major registered a revenue growth of 1% year-on-year to QR7.3bn, supported by robust growth in Indonesia, Tunisia, Myanmar and other markets, which was partially offset by a Covid-19 impact, a reduction in handset sales and macroeconomic weakness in some of our other markets. 
Earnings, before interest expenses, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) declined by 5% year-on-year to QR3bn, impacted by measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 in many territories as well as challenging market conditions in Algeria, Kuwait and Oman. 
Ooredoo Group has healthy cash reserve and liquidity levels to be able to absorb the impact of Covid-19 for the year 2020. As the lockdowns continue, it is expected to result in economic weakness in most of the markets with a corresponding impact on the performance of the company’s operations. 
On the results, Ooredoo Group chairman Sheikh Faisal bin Thani al-Thani said, “Ooredoo Group delivered a healthy set of results for the start of the year, reporting a 1% increase in revenues to QR7.3bn in Q1, 2020, compared to the same period last year. 
“The world is going through an unprecedented challenge as we all come together to tackle the pandemic. While the telecom sector is defensive and more resilient than others, we do expect to see some negative impact on our operations, similar to other global telecom operators. However, Ooredoo Group has a strong balance sheet, a well-diversified portfolio geographically and a diversified customer mix across prepaid, postpaid and enterprise, all of which will help us navigate these challenging times.
“The investments we have made and continue to make in our digital transformation have ensured our business continuity and enabled us to provide essential services and uninterrupted connectivity for our customers during these uncertain times. During the period we upgraded our 4G network in Myanmar to the most advanced level in the country and in our home market of Qatar we took another step towards nationwide 5G coverage by deploying Spectrum Sharing sites which enable the running of 4G and 5G traffic simultaneously on the same frequency.
“At Ooredoo our key priorities are clear: the health and safety of our employees and customers, as well as the continued provision of uninterrupted and high-quality services for our consumer and business customers. Now more than ever, it is imperative that we adhere to our vision of ‘Enriching people’s digital lives’ as our networks play a vital role in connecting communities and empowering businesses. Across all our operations, we have optimised network capacity and have managed the flow of data traffic from business centres to residential areas to ensure uninterrupted and high-speed connectivity for all our customers. 
“For our office employees, we have adopted work from home policies, and for our frontline workers we have implemented strict health and safety measures which are in line with directives received from government and health authorities.  Many of the communities in the territories that we operate in have been severely impacted by the pandemic. Across all our operations, we have launched several initiatives to ease the burden on the groups impacted the most, by offering free data packages, making donations, and contributing to raising awareness of prevention measures.”
Ooredoo Group chief executive officer Sheikh Saud bin Nasser al-Thani said, “In Q1, 2020, Ooredoo Group has increased our revenue and we have delivered good results. Growth was driven by strong performances in most of our markets, and in particular in Indonesia and Tunisia where revenues grew 7% and 16% respectively, supported by Indosat Ooredoo’s refreshed strategy and the implementation of Ooredoo Tunisia’s value creation plan. Business in Myanmar has been growing as well. Ooredoo Qatar continues to be our highest revenue generator, reporting QR1.8bn in total revenues for Q1, 2020. 
“The implementation of nationwide lockdowns across many of our geographies impacted EBITDA as margins came under pressure due to changing customer behaviour. EBITDA for Q1, 2020 was QR3bn compared to QR3.2bn for the same period last year. We continue to implement strong cost optimisation programmes across all our OpCos to manage some of the impact from the pandemic and weakening economic activity. 
“Our leading digital infrastructure and focus on customer experience enabled us to grow our user base by 6% during the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period last year. Our digital platforms and home deliveries enabled our customers to avail our services and manage their accounts from the safety of their homes. In Oman, we continued to deliver double digit growth in fixed revenues; in Iraq, we increased our customer base, while in Tunisia we maintained our number 1 position by customer market share.”

Ooredoo Qatar earns a ‘stable’ 1st quarter revenue of QR1.8bn
Ooredoo Qatar reported “stable” revenue of QR1.8bn in the first quarter of the year, the company announced yesterday.
EBITDA stood at QR966mn, while customer numbers totalled 3.3mn in Q1. The company saw an increase in digital sales and digital service revenue during the period. 
Network innovation continued to be a priority. Ooredoo Qatar’s content and entertainment services saw good growth, with a growing customer base for Ooredoo TV. The company also continued to drive 5G progress with more than 100,000 customers signing up to the new Shahry 5G and Qatarna 5G plans. 
Towards the end of the period, Ooredoo Qatar saw some business impact from the Covid-19 outbreak, particularly on B2B revenue. The company launched the #StayHomeWithOoredoo campaign, which included dedicated offers and services for customers, and increased bandwidth allowance for school and university customers for free, to support distance learning.