Qatar - Ooredoo shareholders approved the board of directors’ recommendation to distribute a cash dividend of QR0.65 per share during its Annual General Meeting Tuesday. 

Addressing the meeting, HE Sheikh Faisal bin Thani al-Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo, highlighted the significant strides the company has made towards its evolution into a leading digital infrastructure provider through strategic investments and the expansion of our global connectivity footprint.

HE Sheikh Faisal said, “2024 was another solid year for Ooredoo Group, seeing substantial growth across all key financial metrics and delivering value to our stakeholders as we continue to diligently execute our strategy. The group made robust operational progress, and our strong results demonstrate that our strategy is working in delivering strong shareholder returns.”

“For the third year in a row, we report strong growth in all key financial metrics, closing 2024 with record-high earnings that surpassed $1bn in normalised net profit for the first time, while maintaining healthy cash reserves and liquidity levels.”

As a result of strategic investments and effective market positioning, revenue increased by 2% year-on-year (y-o-y) to QR23.6bn in 2024, driven by strong performance in Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Tunisia, and the Maldives. This was partially offset by a decline in revenue from Qatar and Oman. Ooredoo’s focus on profitability led to an EBITDA of QR10bn, up by 3% y-o-y. EBITDA margin expanded by 1pp to 42.5% thanks to healthy service revenue growth and a disciplined approach to cost control. Group net profit increased by 14% y-o-y to QR3.4bn in 2024. Normalised net profit grew by 12% y-o-y to QR3.7bn. The delivery of these strong net profit figures is a testament to the group’s ongoing focus on profitability and efficient operational management.

The best-in-class network and unmatched customer experience are attracting more customers to the network, ending 2024 with a total of 51.5mn customers, reflecting a 5% increase y-o-y (excluding Ooredoo Myanmar). Including IOH, the customer base reached a total of 146.2mn.

Highlights of the period include the establishment of MENA Digital Hub, Ooredoo’s new carrier-neutral data centre company. Ooredoo also collaborated with NVIDIA, becoming their cloud partner in the region.

Ooredoo acquired, through Alcatel Submarine Networks, the ‘Fibre in Gulf’ project – the largest subsea cable ever built in the GCC, connecting all GCC countries and beyond. Ooredoo Fintech continues to expand beyond its market leadership in Qatar and the Maldives, launching walletii in Oman.

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