Telecom giant Ooredoo’s revenue for the first half of 2017 (H1 2017) increased to QR16.3bn, an improvement of 2 percent over H1 2016. In local currency terms, growth was driven by Ooredoo Qatar, Ooredoo Oman, Ooredoo Kuwait, Ooredoo Tunisia, Asiacell, Indosat Ooredoo and Ooredoo Maldives.
Excluding foreign exchange translation impact, revenues increased by 3 percent year-on-year, Ooredoo announced yesterday.
Group EBITDA increased by 7 percent to almost QR7.0bn with an improved EBITDA margin of 43 percent, indicating a strong operational performance and good cost control. Excluding foreign exchange translation impact, EBITDA increased by 8 percent year-on-year.
Group net profit to Ooredoo shareholders decreased by 25 percent to QR 1.1bn. Net profit in H1 2016 benefitted from significant foreign exchange gains of QR540m. However these temporary gains were reversed in the second half of the year. Excluding the Foreign Exchange impact, the Pre FX net profit in H1 2017 was up by 11 percent.
Continued strong data growth from consumer and enterprise customers drove data revenue to QR7.2bn in H1 2017; equivalent to 44 percent of Group revenue.
Group B2B Revenue increased to 17 percent of Group revenue (QR2.8bn) in H1 2017 reflecting Ooredoo’s ongoing investment in services for business customers.
Ooredoo’s customer base increased by 14 percent y-o-y to reach almost 150 million driven by strong growth across major markets.
Commenting on the results, Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani (pictured) Chairman of Ooredoo, said: “This has been a very good first half of the year for Ooredoo Group. We delivered growth in Revenues and EBITDA, and our strategy to optimize efficiencies across our diverse portfolio resulted in an improved Group EBITDA Margin to 43 percent.”
Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo said: “During the first six months of the year Ooredoo has made good operational improvements across its business, delivering an increase in revenues of 2 percent over the same period last year. “
