ShareCustomer base up by 2% to reach 26 million
Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al-ThaniKUWAIT: National Mobile Telecommunications Company K.S.C.P "Ooredoo" announced yesterday its financial results for the first half ended 30 June 2018:
Financial highlights:
* Consolidated customer base increased by 2 percent to reach 26.1 million in 1H 2018, compared to 25.6 million in 1H 2017.
* Revenue decreased by 1 percent to KD 341.4 million in 1H of 2018, compared to KD 343.8 million for the same period in 2017.
* EBITDA was KD 107.6 million in 1H 2018, compared to KD 128.9 million for the same period in 2017.
* Net Profit Attributable to NMTC was KD 12.2 million in 1H 2018, compared to KD 23.3 million for the same period in 2017. The decrease was mainly caused by a lower Algerian contribution due to a weak economic environment, currency devaluation and price competition.
* The consolidated earnings per share was 24 fils in 1H 2018, compared to 46 fils per share earned for the same period last year.
Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al-Thani, Chairman of the Board of Directors commented:
"On Group level Ooredoo continues to see good demand for its products and services, which resulted in a 2 percent increase in our customer base to more than 26 million as at 30 June 2018, despite challenging market conditions. We remain committed to enriching the lives of our customers through innovative products and reliable connectivity.
All our operations displayed robust revenue growth with the exception of Algeria. Group EBITDA and Net Profit were also adversely affected by margin compression in Kuwait and the challenging conditions in the Algerian market.
In Algeria revenue decreased to KD 116 million due to challenging market conditions. We sustained our mobile data leadership and continued to deploy the 4G network across the country.
Kuwait experienced a significant increase in the 1H 2018 revenues to KD 128 million mainly driven by handset sales, up 21 percent compared with the same period last year. I am pleased to report that our focus on digitization is gaining momentum as we continue to grow our B2B service offering in a highly competitive marketplace. In Tunisia we maintained our market leadership position, particularly in the mobile data space. During H1 2018 our customer base increased by 5 percent, driving up local currency revenue by 8 percent.
In Palestine, our West Bank customers continue to enjoy high quality data services via our 3G network. Wataniya Mobile customer numbers were up more than 50 percent also due to the service launch in Gaza in October 2017 while revenue was up by 19 percent year on year.
In the Maldives we continued to grow our customer base as well as revenues."
Review of operations
The Group's operational performance can be summarized as follows:
Ooredoo - Kuwait
Ooredoo's customer base in Kuwait reached to 2.4 million in 1H 2018, representing a 5 percent increase compared to the same period in 2017. Revenues for 1H 2018 were KD 127.6 million, an increase of 21 percent compared to KD 105.2 million for the same period in 2017. Higher handset sales led to an increase in revenue, while at the same time negatively impacting margins. EBITDA was KD 24.3 million in 1H 2018, lower than KD 27.0 million in 1H 2017.
Ooredoo - Tunisia
Ooredoo's customer base in Tunisia reached 8.4 million in 1H 2018, an increase of 5 percent compared to the same period in 2017. Revenues slightly increased to KD 63.7 million in 1H 2018, compared to KD 62.2 million for the same period in 2017. In local currency terms revenues were up by 8 percent. EBITDA was KD 24.2 million compared to KD 23.3 million for the same period in 2017.
Ooredoo - Algeria
Business in Algeria was negatively impacted by the devaluation of the Algerian dinar, intense price competition and a weak economic environment. Customer numbers of Ooredoo Algeria declined by 3 percent to 13.6 million in 1H 2018, compared with the same period in 2017. Revenues also decreased to KD 115.7 million in 1H 2018, compared to KD 145.5 million for the same period in 2017. EBITDA was KD 46.0 million in 1H 2018, down from KD 65.1 million in 1H 2017.
Wataniya - Palestine
Wataniya Mobile made good progress in the first six months of the year, with the launch of the 3G network in the West Bank in January 2018. Customer numbers increased by 58 percent to 1.2 million also benefiting from the Gaza launch in October 2017. Revenue increased to KD 15 million, up by 19 percent compared to KD 12.6 million for the same period in 2017. EBITDA stood at KD 3.3 million in line with 1H 2017.
Ooredoo - Maldives
Ooredoo Maldives reported a 6 percent increase in revenue in 1H 2018 to KD 19.2 million, compared to KD 18.2 million for the same period in 2017. EBITDA was KD 9.9 million in 1H 2018, compared to KD 10.4 million for the same period in 2017. Ooredoo Maldives now serves a total of 430k customers, 6 percent increase compared to the same period in 2017.
