Qatar- Ooredoo Group records QR7.9bn revenue in Q1

(MENAFN- The Peninsula)

DOHA: Supported by strong revenue growth in Oman Indonesia Myanmar Kuwait and Maldives Ooredoo Group revenue reached QR7.9bn in the first quarter of 2016. The Group net profit to Ooredoo shareholders rose sharply by 75 percent to QR879m mainly due to positive foreign exchange impact in Indonesia and Myanmar.

The Group’s customer base reached 118 million at the end of the first quarter a 6 percent or 7 million year-on-year increase driven by strong acquisition in Myanmar Indonesia Algeria and Qatar.

Data revenue increased further and covers now 38 percent of total Group revenue (Q1 2015: 30 percent) due to Ooredoo’s focus on network expansion and modernisation and its strategy of marketing innovative data services for individuals and businesses. Revenue from data contributed QR3bn in the first quarter of 2016. B2B revenue stood at QR1.4bn reflecting Ooredoo’s investment in services for business customers.

Foreign Exchange translation has impacted Ooredoo’s performance. Excluding Foreign Exchange translation impact Q1 2016 Group revenue would have increased by 1 percent YoY compared to reported decline of 2 percent. Excluding the exchange impact and one-off gains from investments net profit would have been in line with the previous year the Group stated yesterday.

Group EBITDA was marginally lower by one percent exceeding QR3bn in Q1 2016 with a stable EBITDA margin of 40 percent. Excluding Foreign Exchange translation impact Q1 2016 Group EBITDA would have increased by 3 percent YoY indicating a good underlying operational performance.

Commenting on the results Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani Chairman of Ooredoo said: “Ooredoo has delivered solid results to start the year. Our diverse range of services attracted 7 million new customers and we now have 118 million customers globally. Revenue and EBITDA grew in local currency terms demonstrating the strength of our underlying business. Reported Net Profit was up by 75 percent benefitting this quarter from favourable Foreign Exchange rates in Myanmar and Indonesia.

Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani Group Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo 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 Qatar delivered a positive performance in the first quarter of 2016. Customer number reached 3.5 million a 6 percent increase over last year’s first quarter. Revenue reached almost QR 2bn in line with the same period last year.

EBITDA stood at QR941 million for Q1 2016 marginally below Q1 2015 (QR 980m) and net profit was QR484m 1 percent higher than net profit in Q1 2015 (QR 481m).

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.

Ooredoo Oman delivered strong results for the first quarter of the year recording double-digit growth in terms of Revenue EBITDA and Net Profit. Ooredoo Kuwait Q1 revenue was QR 604m increasing by double digits (11 percent) compared to QR 545m in Q1 2015. Asiacell continued to be impacted by the security situation a deteriorating economic environment and a decrease of customer purchasing power in Iraq.

Ooredoo’s customer base in Algeria at the end of Q1 2016 was 13.2 million customers up by 4 percent compared to Q1 last year. Indosat Ooredoo delivered strong growth for the quarter driven by data revenue.

The Peninsula