Ooredoo announced its financial results for the nine months ended 30 September 2015.
Ooredoo group Net Profit reached QAR 1.8 billion in first nine months (9M) 2015, excluding FX impact, Group Net Profit would have been up 2% YoY. Net Profit grew 102% YoY to QAR 756 million in Q3 2015 supported by improved margins and the sale of non-core investments. Last year’s Net Profit was negatively impacted by one-off provisions related to a court case in Indonesia.
Ooredoo Group customers reached almost 115 million at the end of September 2015, an increase of 20% or nearly 19 million customers. This increase has been driven by strong performances in Indonesia, Myanmar, Algeria, Qatar, and Oman.
Group continued to record revenue growth across its key markets in local currency terms while overall financial performance was impacted by the security situation in Iraq and adverse currency movements in Indonesia, Algeria, and Tunisia.
Group revenue reached QAR 24.2 billion in 9M 2015 supported by revenue growth in local currency terms in Qatar, Oman, Indonesia, Myanmar, Algeria, Kuwait and the Maldives. Excluding FX impact, Group revenue would have increased by 4% YoY.
Group EBITDA reached QAR 10 billion in 9M 2015 with an EBITDA margin of 41%. Excluding FX impact, Group EBITDA would have increased by 5% YoY. Group Earnings Per Share in 9M 2015 stood at QAR 5.49 (9M 2014: QAR 6.49). Group data revenues delivered strong growth driven by enhanced network speeds and coverage across our markets, increasing data adoption and implementation of monetization strategies. Data now represents 35% of Group revenue.
Group B2B revenue reached QAR 3.8 billion thanks to our accelerating B2B strategy. Further alignment of Group portfolio via sale of non-core asset, e.g. Wi-Tribe Philippines Liquidity Provider program for Ooredoo shares at the Qatar Stock Exchange started successfully in August 2015.
Commenting on the financial results, Chairman of Ooredoo Sheikh Abdulla Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani, said “Ooredoo showed healthy growth in customer numbers adding nearly 19 million net new customers in the last twelve months. Revenue growth in local currency terms continued across our key markets demonstrating strong underlying performance of the group and significant market potential for us in our footprint. In addition, the Group profit margins showed an improved trend in the third quarter of 2015. We remain optimistic of the long term value potential of Ooredoo, despite some of the challenges we face, such as currency depreciation in some of our markets and instability in Iraq.
Ooredoo is increasingly at the heart of our customers’ shift to a digital, connected world. Our growing role in society and our ability to create value for our customers offers long term value for our shareholders. The investment we have made over the past few years to transform our networks is delivering value by enabling Ooredoo to develop new digital products and services”.
Also commenting on the results Group Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo Dr. Nasser Marafih, said “Ooredoo delivered a solid performance in Q3 2015 with year-on-year net profit increasing by 102% to QAR 756 million. Ooredoo operations in Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Myanmar recorded healthy growth in the period. In addition, Ooredoo Algeria and Indosat increased their revenue and EBITDA in local currency terms. The security situation in Iraq continued to impact Asiacell’s results. Adverse currency movements mainly in Indonesia, Algeria, and Tunisia impacted our results reported in QAR.
During the quarter, Ooredoo successfully completed the divestment of its non-core asset in Philippines. Our focus remains on our core business in consumer and enterprise segments. Ooredoo is executing its data strategy effectively across its global footprint. 4G+ is now the standard for our customers in Qatar and Kuwait and we will be rolling out bigger, faster and better networks in the rest of our operating countries. Data revenue across the Group has grown significantly during the period and now represents 35% of total group revenue. Our B2B strategy continues to deliver good revenue growth from our SME customers and now increasingly multi-national clients”.
Source: Qatar news agency
