(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman Telecommunications Co SAOG (Omantel) on Tuesday announced that its net profit for 2013 increased 2.6 per cent year-on-year. The group customer base grew by five per cent.
The company, in a press release, said its net profit rose to RO119.3mn from RO116.2mn.
Revenue increased by almost one per cent to RO462.9mn
Last year, compared with RO458.9mn in 2012.
Company revenues from domestic operations (excluding the Pakistani subsidiary) recorded a growth of 4.4 per cent year-on-year, driven by growth in all business streams, to RO450.7mn. Service and wholesale revenues recorded a growth of 4.2 per cent and 5.7 per cent, respectively.
Despite of the decline in revenue from national calls and SMS, Omantel said its mobile business continued to record impressive growth, driven by mobile prepaid and broadband services. Fixed and wholesale businesses recorded a good growth during the year driven by fixed broadband, corporate data services, external admin (international calls) and capacity sales revenues.
In the broadband segment both mobile and fixed broadband services have been major drivers of growth. Mobile and fixed broadband subscribers grew by 48 per cent and 34 per cent, while revenue also recorded a growth of 53 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively. Domestic operations' net profit after tax recorded an increase of 3.7 per cent to reach RO124.6mn, compared with RO120.2mn of the corresponding period of year 2012.
Commenting on the results, chief executive officer Dr Amer al Rawas said, ''We are pleased with the results Omantel has achieved during 2013 which reflects our commitment to shareholders to maintain a sustainable growth for the company. 2013 has been a challenging but yet another successful year that saw a good growth in revenue, net profit and customer-base.
''During the year, we have been able to expand our customer-base, increase our revenues and grow the net profit despite challenging market conditions and the increasing fierce competition in the local market as well as from the global over the top players.''
He added, ''We continued our investments on the network during 2013 to provide best-in-class customer experience and ensure that our customers are always enjoying unmatched quality service. The new state-of-the-art 4G LTE network has been rolled out according to the plan. The number of 4G LTE base stations has reached more than 470 by end of December 2013. Many improvements have also been made on the 3.5G network following the allocation of more spectrum by TRA.
''Despite these investment, Omantel was able to close the year with a slight increase of 2.2 per cent in expenses.
''These results would have not been possible without the loyalty of our customers and the support from our shareholders, board and our employees. I would like to thank our loyal customers, supportive shareholders, visionary board and committed employees who have always been part of Omantel's journey to excellence,'' Rawas added.
Omantel board recommended to the annual general meeting (AGM) a dividend distribution of 75 per cent of the nominal value per share. As Omantel has already paid an interim dividend of 40 per cent of the nominal value on August 2013, the total dividend distribution for the financial year ended December 31, 2013 will be 115 per cent.
Omantel board will also recommend to the company's annual general meeting an interim dividend of up to 40 per cent of the nominal value of the share to be paid in August 20
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.