Ooredoo Kuwait posts KD 748.5m revenue

(MENAFN- Arab Times) KUWAIT CITY Feb 23: National Mobile Telecommunications Company KSCP Ticker: NMTC (Ooredoo) announced its financial results for the year of 2014:

Total customer base increased to 23.2 million at the close of 2014 versus 19.9 million for the same period in 2013 amounting to growth of 16.4percent. Revenues for year of 2014 amounted to KD 748.5 million ($2553.9 million) compared with KD 731.1 million ($2590.9 million) for the same period in 2013 equal to growth of 2.4percent. EBITDA for year of 2014 was KD 242.8 million ($828.4 million) compared to EBITDA of KD 281.3 million ($996.9 million) for the same period in 2013. The consolidated Net Profit for the quarter was impacted by customer acquisition investments in Algeria to acquire 3G market share Foreign Exchange losses due to depreciation of Algerian Dinar and a one off restructuring cost in Tunisia. Excluding the above the normalised net profit attributable to NMTC shareholders for Q4 2014 is KD 11.0 million (Q4 2013 KD 14.7 million - adjusted for Foreign Exchange impact)) The consolidated Net Profit for year of 2014 was at KD 53.7 million ($183.2 million) compared to Net Profit for the same period in 2013 of KD 97.8 million ($346.7 million). The net attributable profit to Ooredoo in year of 2014 was KD 45.7 million ($155.9 million) compared with a net attributable profit of KD 76.1 million ($269.7 million) for the same period of 2013. The consolidated Earnings per Share was 91 fils ($31 cents) compared to 152 fils ($54 cents) per share earned for the same period last year.

Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al-Thani Chairman of Ooredoo Kuwait (NMTC) commented:

"NMTC''s consolidated financial results for the year reflect our consistent and successful strategy of investment into cutting-edge technology segmented marketing products and high customer service levels.

On the back of this strategy we have continued to grow our market share in Algeria through our 3G leadership have maintained our revenue market share leadership in Tunisia and stabilized and grown our market share in Kuwait.

The Net Profit was impacted mainly due to one-off costs in Algeria Tunisia and Foreign Exchange losses primarily due to depreciation of the Algerian dinar. Overall at the end of 2014 given the initiatives undertaken the business is well positioned to capture further market opportunities in 2015".

Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al-Thani also declared that the Board decided to submit a recommendation to the AGM to distribute cash dividends to the Company Shareholders valued 70percent of the nominal value of share which is equivalent to 70 fils.

Review of operations

The Group''s operational performance can be summarized as follows:

Ooredoo - Kuwait

Ooredoo''s customer base in Kuwait was 2.52 million at the end of year of 2014 an increase of 27.7percent on the same period in 2013. Revenues for year of 2014 were KD 168.0 million ( $ 573.3 million) a decrease of 13.8percent compared to 2013 of KD 194.9 million ( $ 690.8 million). EBITDA was KD 37.0 million ( $ 126.4 million) versus EBITDA for year of 2013 of KD 52.0 million ( $ 184.3 million) a decrease by 28.8percent. Net profit was at KD 14.9 million ( $ 50.9 million) compared to Net Profit for the same period in 2013 of KD 14.8 million ( $ 52.4 million).

Ooredoo - Tunisia

Ooredoo''s Tunisia customer base at the end of year of 2014 stood at 7.55 million customers an increase of 1.5percent compared to 2013. Revenues for year of 2014 were KD 178.7 million ( $ 609.8 million) compared to revenues for the same period in 2013 of KD 195.2 million ( $ 691.8 million). EBITDA was KD 83.7 million ( $ 285.7 million) compared to KD 102.2 million ( $ 362.0 million) for the same period last year representing a decrease of 18.0percent which includes the one off restructuring costs in Tunisia. The Net Profit stood at KD 23.3 million ( $ 79.6 million) a decrease of 37.5percent when compared with KD 37.4 million ( $ 132.4 million) for the same period in 2013. The Net Attributable Profit to Ooredoo for year of 2014 was KD 17.5 million ( $ 59.7 million) compared to KD 28.0 million ( $ 99.3 million) for the same period in 2013.

Ooredoo - Algeria

Ooredoo''s customer base in Algeria at the end of year of 2014 was 12.22 million customers an increase of 28.8percent compared to the same period last year. Revenues for year of 2014 were KD 361.3 million ( $ 1232.8 million) an increase of 19.3percent compared with revenues of KD 302.7 million ( $ 1072.8 million) for the same period in 2013. EBITDA for year of 2014 was KD 115.1 million ( $ 392.9 million) a decrease of 6.7percent on KD 123.4 million ( $ 437.4 million) for the same period in 2013. 2014 EBITDA includes customer acquisition investments in Algeria to acquire 3G market share. The total Net Profit for the year of 2014 was KD 17.1 million ( $ 58.2 million) compared to a total Net Profit of KD 57.2 million ( $ 202.6 million) for the same period in 2013 which includes ForEx losses due to the depreciation of the Algerian Dinar. The Net Attributable Profit to Ooredoo for year of 2014 was KD 12.1 million $ 41.3 million) compared to a Net Attributable Profit of KD 40.6 million ( $ 143.8 million) for the same period in 2013.

Wataniya - Palestine

The total customer base for Wataniya Mobile Palestine at the end of year of 2014 was 0.62 million a decrease of 2.7percent from the same period of 2013. Revenues for year of 2014 were KD 24.3 million ( $ 82.8 million) a decrease of 4.1percent compared to the revenues of KD 25.3 million ( $ 89.7 million) in year of 2013. EBITDA for year of 2014 was KD 3.7 million ( $ 12.5 million) an increase of 44.5percent compared to an EBITDA of KD 2.5 million ( $ 9.0 million) for the same period in 2013. The total Net Loss for year of 2014 was KD 4.7 million ( $ 16.1 million) compared to a total Net Loss of KD 6.1 million ( $ 21.5 million) for the same period in 2013. The Net Attributable Loss for the year of 2014 was KD 2.3 million ( $ 7.8 million) compared to a Net Attributable Loss of KD 2.9 million ( $ 10.4 million) for the same period in 2013.

Ooredoo - Maldives

Ooredoo''s total customer base at the end of year of 2014 was 0.30 million an increase of 19.8percent from the same period of 2013. Revenues for year of 2014 were KD 16.2 million ( $ 55.1 million)an increase of 25.0percent compared to KD 12.9 million ( $ 45.8 million) for the same period 2013. EBITDA for the year of 2014 was KD 5.3 million ( $ 18.2 million) an increase of 80.5percent compared to an EBITDA of KD 3.0 million ( $ 10.5 million) for the same period in 2013. The Net Attributable Profit for 2014 was KD 1.3 million ( $ 4.4 million) compared to the Net Attributable Loss of KD 2.0 million ( $ 7.0 million) for the same period in 2013.