25 April 2012
Muscat: The net profit of Omani Qatari Telecommunications Company, popularly known as Nawras, declined by 19.1 per cent to RO9.8 million for the first quarter of 2012, from RO12.1 million posted for the same period of last year.
Revenues in the first quarter 2012 amounted to RO46.8 million compared with RO48.1 million in the first quarter of 2011, a slight decline of 2.7 per cent due to a reduction in SMS revenues which was not fully compensated by growth in data revenue, the company said. In addition, revenue in the first quarter of 2012 included a one-off accounting adjustment of RO658,000.
The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first quarter declined by 5.6 per cent to RO24.1 million, compared to RO25.6 million for the same period of last year.
Total number of customers grew by 46,105 customers, 2.4 per cent to 1,988,476, compared to 1,942,371 in the first quarter of 2011. The growth came mainly from increases in both fixed services customers and prepaid mobile customers.
The fixed service customer base grew by nearly 273 per cent to 32,857 in the first quarter of 2012 compared to 8,816 for the same period of 2011. The mobile post-paid customer base developed by 2 per cent to 171,980 customers compared with 168,659 customers in the first quarter of 2011. The mobile pre-paid customer base for increased to 1,783,639 customers from 1,764,896 customers during the period.
"We continue to work in a highly competitive environment here in Oman. However, I am pleased to say that the number of our fixed broadband customers continues to grow significantly year on year at a rate of 273 per cent; furthermore we are now starting to see our mobile customer base and number of active customer also growing," said Ross Cormack, CEO of Nawras.
"Early in the first quarter of 2012, we revamped our VOIP service for fixed as well as mobile customers, resulting in real growth in our international calls. That was followed closely with a demonstration of our 4G LTE service capabilities at the Muscat Grand Mall, a culmination of our testing in the field. Muscat Grand Mall is now the home of our new Nawras Campus, bringing the company together again.
We are seeing the efficiency benefits of closer teams and work flow synergies due to this move. In March 2012 we successfully refinanced our existing loan facilities which enhanced our financial flexibility and lowered our funding costs," he added.
Muscat: The net profit of Omani Qatari Telecommunications Company, popularly known as Nawras, declined by 19.1 per cent to RO9.8 million for the first quarter of 2012, from RO12.1 million posted for the same period of last year.
Revenues in the first quarter 2012 amounted to RO46.8 million compared with RO48.1 million in the first quarter of 2011, a slight decline of 2.7 per cent due to a reduction in SMS revenues which was not fully compensated by growth in data revenue, the company said. In addition, revenue in the first quarter of 2012 included a one-off accounting adjustment of RO658,000.
The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first quarter declined by 5.6 per cent to RO24.1 million, compared to RO25.6 million for the same period of last year.
Total number of customers grew by 46,105 customers, 2.4 per cent to 1,988,476, compared to 1,942,371 in the first quarter of 2011. The growth came mainly from increases in both fixed services customers and prepaid mobile customers.
The fixed service customer base grew by nearly 273 per cent to 32,857 in the first quarter of 2012 compared to 8,816 for the same period of 2011. The mobile post-paid customer base developed by 2 per cent to 171,980 customers compared with 168,659 customers in the first quarter of 2011. The mobile pre-paid customer base for increased to 1,783,639 customers from 1,764,896 customers during the period.
"We continue to work in a highly competitive environment here in Oman. However, I am pleased to say that the number of our fixed broadband customers continues to grow significantly year on year at a rate of 273 per cent; furthermore we are now starting to see our mobile customer base and number of active customer also growing," said Ross Cormack, CEO of Nawras.
"Early in the first quarter of 2012, we revamped our VOIP service for fixed as well as mobile customers, resulting in real growth in our international calls. That was followed closely with a demonstration of our 4G LTE service capabilities at the Muscat Grand Mall, a culmination of our testing in the field. Muscat Grand Mall is now the home of our new Nawras Campus, bringing the company together again.
We are seeing the efficiency benefits of closer teams and work flow synergies due to this move. In March 2012 we successfully refinanced our existing loan facilities which enhanced our financial flexibility and lowered our funding costs," he added.
© Times of Oman 2012
