Monday, Jan 30, 2012
(Adds details from the statement in paragraph 4, 5, analyst comment in paragraph 6, CEO comments 7,8,9 and 10.)
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Oman's Nawras (NWRS.ON) reported Monday a flat fourth-quarter net profit, compared with a year ago, but said its investment in broadband should start to pay dividends in 2012 amid ongoing local competition for mobile and fixed line subscribers.
The telecoms firm made a net profit of 11.9 million Omani rials ($31 million), unchanged from the same period in 2010, it said in a statement posted on the Muscat bourse website.
The result missed the OMR13 million that analysts at Oman's Gulf Baader Capital Markets had expected.
"Net profit was affected by higher depreciation and amortization charges relating to the build out of the fixed and mobile networks," Nawras said.
The telco said fourth-quarter revenue grew 1.8% to OMR50.8 million, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, increased 4.3% to OMR26.8 million.
The company's total customer base stood at 1.9 million at the end of December, down 3.6% from 2 million at the same point a year ago. The decline was mainly due to "regulatory changes in the rules for counting the customer base," it said.
Nawras Chief executive Ross Cormack said the company remains committed to rolling out its mobile and fixed broadband services, with a particular emphasis on obtaining more lucrative customers.
"We are getting cooperate broadband customers, customers from government, ministries, and universities," he told Zawya Dow Jones in a post earnings interview.
Commenting on the start of LTE [Long Term Evolution] in Oman, Cormack said that the technology is there and "we'll launch when we see customers there".
Nawras shares closed Monday flat at OMR0.640 in Muscat.
-By Shereen El Gazzar, Dow Jones Newswires; +971 444 61684; Shereen.elgazzar@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
30-01-12 1423GMT
