Kuwait: National Mobile Telecommunications Company (NMTC) (Ooredoo) yesterday announced its financial results for the nine months of 2015:
Financial Highlights:
* Total customer base increased to 23.9 million at the close of nine months of2015, versus 22.3 million for the same period in 2014, amounting to growth of 7.5 percent.
* Positive trend delivering growth in Revenue, EBITDA and net profit in the third quarter of 2015.
* Revenues for nine months of 2015stood at KD547.9 million ($1,812.8 million), compared with KD565.5 million ($1,961.7 million) for the same period in 2014, a decrease of3.1 percent. However, in local currency terms, Ooredoo Kuwait, Ooredoo Algeria and Ooredoo Maldives have posted revenue growth.
* EBITDA for nine months of 2015 was KD192.1 million ($635.7 million), compared to EBITDA of KD203.4 million ($705.7 million) for the same period in 2014.
* The consolidated net profit for the period was impacted by adverse currency movements in Tunisia (-10 percent YoY) and Algeria (-14 percent YoY) and foreign exchange losses of KD12.6million ($ 41.7 million) mainly from Algeria. The consolidated net profit for nine months of 2015 was KD33.9 million ($112.1 million), compared to net profit for the same period in 2014 of KD58.7 million ($203.6 million).
* Net profit attributable to NMTC in nine months of 2015 was KD 28.1 million ($93.0 million) compared with a Net attributable profit of KD 45.7 million ($158.7 million) for the same period of 2014. Excluding the adverse impact of Foreign currency losses, Net Profit to NMTC would have been KD 36.6 million ($121.1 million) compared to KD 49.0 million ($169.9 million) in nine months of 2014. Additionally, nine months of 2014 included one-off gains from discontinued business amounting to KD 3.6 million.
* The consolidated earnings per share was 56.1fils ($18.6 cents), compared to 91.3fils ($31.7cents) per share earned for the same period last year.
Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al-Thani, Chairman of the Board, commented:
"Ooredoo Kuwait and its operations (Algeria, Palastine, Maldives,Tunisia and Oman) has delivered strong performance in Q3 2015 recording growth in revenue, EBITDA and Net Income compared to Q3 2014 amid adverse currency movements in some of our markets in 2015.
We continued to grow our customer base through the successful execution of our strategy. Our number of customers reached 23.9 million as of Q3 2015, an increase of 7.5 percent compared to the same period last year.
We continued our network investments across our footprint to ensure our customers have the best customer experience. Our data leadership in Algeria continues to attract new customers, and we have maintained our leadership in Tunisia. Our LTE-A network in Kuwait differentiates Ooredoo's offer through the quality and speed of our services.
The shift to an increasingly digital world offers significant opportunity for Ooredoo to develop and capture new sources of revenue by delivering innovative and ubiquitous services. Our data centric strategy will deliver long term value for both our customers and shareholders."
Review of operations:
The Group's operational performance can be summarized as follows:
Ooredoo - Kuwait
Ooredoo's customer base in Kuwait was 2.4 million at the end of nine months of 2015, a decrease of 1.5 percent on the same period in 2014. Revenues for nine months of 2015 were KD 139.1 million ($460.1 million), an increase of 11.1 percent compared to 2014 of KD 125.1 million ($434.1 million). EBITDA was KD 34.5 million ($114.2 million) versus EBITDA for nine months of 2014 of KD 26.4 million (USD 91.6 million), an increase by 30.9 percent. Net Profit was at KWD 8.6 million ($28.6 million), compared to KD 5.4 million ($18.6 million) for the same period in 2014.
Ooredoo - Tunisia
Ooredoo's Tunisia customer base at the end of nine months of 2015was7.5 million customers. During nine months of 2015, the Tunisian Dinar deprecated by 10 percent compared to 2014, which has significantly impacted the results shown in Kuwaiti dinar Revenues for nine months of 2015 were KD116.6 million ($385.8 million), compared to revenues for the same period in 2014 of KD138.2million ($ 479.3 million). EBITDA was KD51.6 million ($170.8 million) compared to KD66.3 million ($230.0 million) for the same period last year representing a decrease of 22.1 percent. The net profit decreased to KD12.5million ($41.2 million) a decrease of 36.6 percent when compared with KD19.6 million ($68.1 million) for the same period in 2014. The Net Attributable Profit to Ooredoo for nine months of 2015 wasKD9.3 million ($ 30.9 million), compared to KD14.7 million ($51.1 million) for the same period in 2014.
Ooredoo - Algeria
Ooredoo's customer base in Algeria at the end of nine months of 2015 was 13.1 million customers, an increase of 14.1 percent. During nine months of 2015, the Algerian Dinar depreciated by 14 percent over nine months of 2014 which has significantly impacted the results shown in Kuwaiti dinar. Revenues for nine months of 2015 were KD255.8 million ($846.4 million), a decrease of 6.0 percent compared with revenues of KD272.2 million ($944.2 million) for the same period in 2014. EBITDA for nine months of 2015 was KD96.2 million ($318.3 million), a decrease of 9.3 percent on KD106.0 million ($367.9 million) for the same period in 2014.The total Net Profit for nine months 2015 was KD15.7 million ($51.9 million) compared to a total Net Profit of KD34.5 million ($119.6 million) for the same period in 2014. The Net Attributable profit to Ooredoo for nine months 2015 was KD11.1 million ($36.9 million) compared to a Net Attributable Profit of KWD24.5 million (USD 84.9 million) for the same period in 2014. Excluding the losses caused by depreciation of DZD, the Attributable Net Profit to Ooredoo would be KD 19.1 million ($63.2 million).
Wataniya - Palestine
The total customer base for Wataniya Mobile Palestine at the end of nine months of 2015 was 0.7 million, an increase of 7.7 percent from the same period of 2014. Revenues for nine months of 2015 were KD19.1 million ($63.2 million), an increase of 4.0 percent compared to the revenues of KD18.4million ($63.7 million) for the same period in 2014. EBITDA for nine months of 2015 was KD3.4 million ($11.1 million) an increase of 18.7 percent, compared to an EBITDA of KD2.8 million ($9.8 million). The total net loss for nine months of 2015 was KD2.5 million ($8.2 million) compared to a total net loss of KD3.0 million ($10.5 million). The net attributable Loss for the nine months of 2015 stood at KD1.2 million ($4.0 million) compared to a net attributable loss of KD1.5 million ($5.1 million) for the same period in 2014.
Ooredoo - Maldives
Maldives total customer base at the end of nine months of 2015 was 0.3 million, an increase of 18.3 percent from the same period of 2014. Revenues for nine months of 2015 were KD17.3 million ($57.2 million), an increase of 52.2 percent, compared to KD11.4 million ($39.4 million) for the same period 2014. EBITDA for the nine months of 2015 was KD8.0 million ($26.4 million) an increase of 127.0 percent, compared to an EBITDA of KD3.5 million ($12.2 million). The net attributable profit for nine months of 2015 was KD3.7 million ($12.2 million) compared to the net attributable profit of KD0.2 million ($0.9 million) for the same period in 2014.
The KD to USD conversion rate used for nine months of 2015 is 0.30224 and for nine months of 2014 is 0.28826.
© Kuwait Times 2015
