DOHA: Vodafone Qatar will have a new Chief Executive Officer who will assume his post on September 4 this year replacing Acting CEO John Tombleson.
Two other senior executives were named to take the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Marketing Officer.
"The appointments of these three new senior executives will take Vodafone Qatar to new strengths. I welcome them all on board and look forward to working with them to make a world of difference for all the people in Qatar," said H E Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Saud Al Thani, Chairman of Vodafone Qatar.
The new CEO Richard Daly will join Vodafone Qatar from his current role as CEO for Vodafone Partner Markets, where he has increased the number of independent operators who purchase access to Vodafone services, competencies, products and brand.
From 2007 to 2009, Daly was the CEO for Vodafone Egypt where led the increase in market share whilst a 3rd entrant entered the market.
The new CFO, Steve Walters, will report to Daly, and functionally to Karen Witts, Regional Finance Director later on October 1 this year. Walters is an experienced finance executive, and is currently interim Head of Finance for Vodafone Essar Ltd.
Steve first joined Vodafone in 2000 and has extensive experience in Vodafone Group, European Region, and since 2008 in India in core areas of finance including M&A. In the meantime, Wade Kirkland will continue as Acting Chief Financial Officer.
John Saad has been appointed as Chief Marketing Officer for Vodafone Qatar, effective immediately. John started with Vodafone in Egypt in 2002 where he worked in several areas including consumer segments and brand. John was then selected to lead the Prepaid Segment during the critical stage of the third operator launch in Egypt, after which he was chosen to head the Consumer Marketing Segment.
The firm has eyed a wider coverage for mobile and fixed lines this year as the company continues its strong profit gains of QR31m in the second quarter.
Vodafone Acting CEO John Tombleson said because of the significant improvement of the EBITDA on the financial results for the quarter that ended on June 30, the company is expected a 30 percent increase of its coverage for this year.
Also, the strong market gains underpin Vodafone Qatar's expectation to declare a dividend in March 2013. "We will be paying the shareholders dividends based on next year's performance," Tombleson said.
In his quarterly financial report, Tombleson sees a brighter outlook in the next quarter that they will introduce new products and services including the expansion of mobile network, launch of the Vodafone Money Transfer to India and the launch of fixed line calling in specific areas concentrating on business establishments.
The major gains Vodafone has achieved at the end of the second quarter was reaching the 761,000 mobile customers which is a 43 percent compared to June 2010. As a result, mobile revenue market share for the quarter is estimated to reach 23.4 percent.
"Profitability at the EBITDA level has improved significantly compared to last quarter. Achieving continued EBITDA success is very important as this is a key factor in our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders," Tombleson said.
The quarterly report also noted the revenue of QR 290.6 million increased 65% compared to the same quarter last year and average revenue per user (ARPU) has increased 11 percent year-on-year to reach QR 116. "We continue to expand our breadth of products and services, delivering great value and providing an unparalleled customer experience, resulting in confidence that we remain on track to pay dividends based on the company's performance in the financial year ending 31 March 2013." Tombleson said.
© The Peninsula 2011
