Telecom Egypt (ETEL), the country's largest internet provider, reported a surge in first quarter (Q1) earnings for the year 2019, triggering a rally in the company’s shares on Tuesday.

The company’s Q1 2019 net profit amounted to 1.62 billion Egyptian pounds ($94.97 million), compared to 774 million pounds in Q1 2018, a 109.3 percent increase, largely beating Naeem Brokerage’s estimate of 635 million pounds and consensus estimates of 1.1 billion pounds.

“Overall, a strong performance, led by operational growth within the retail and domestic wholesale segments,” Rami ElSirgany, research analyst at Naeem Brokerage told Zawya by email.

ETEL’s revenue rose 27.41 percent to 6.09 billion pounds in Q1 2019, compared to 4.78 billion pounds in Q1 2018.

Adel Hamed, Telecom Egypt’s group chief executive said in the company’s earnings release: “This quarter shows strong results and a robust preface to Telecom Egypt’s strategic objectives for 2019.

“Our retail revenue continues its notable growth driven by both fixed and mobile data, reflecting the growth of our customer base across our spectrum of services, which will soon expand to quad play,” Hamed added.

The company’s shares were trading 2.03 percent higher at 13.07 EGP by 14:40 GST on Tuesday.

“We change our recommendation of ETEL from HOLD to BUY with a target price of EGP 16/share,” Naeem Brokerage’s ElSirgany said.

(Reporting by Gerard Aoun; Editing by Michael Fahy)

(gerard.aoun@refinitiv.com)

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