Ooredoo Q.P.S.C. (Ooredoo) yesterday announced its financial results for the half year ended 30 June 2022. Revenue for the half year ended 30 June 2022 stood at QR11bn, an increase of 4 percent compared to the same period last year. Net Profit for the period stood at QR1.3bn up 43 percent from the first half of 2021. NP has been normalised in the same manner as EBITDA plus impairments and FX impact.
Group EBITDA for the period was QR4.5bn, an increase of 2 percent. EBITDA has been normalised for two Indonesian non-recuring item, i.e., the data centre deal in 2022 and the tower sale & lease back in 2021.
CAPEX for the period stood at QR965m and Free Cash Flow increased 10 percent to reach QR3.6bn. Consolidated customer base stood at 55 million, driven by growth most markets offset by a decline in Myanmar.
Commenting on the results, Sheikh Faisal bin Thani Al Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo, said: “Ooredoo Group had a good start to the year. Taken the deconsolidation of our Indonesian operation into account we delivered growth in revenues and a Net Profit of QR1.3bn up 43 percent over the first half of 2021. Our strategy to provide robust connectivity and superior customer experiences is clearly paying off.”
“As we enter the second half of the year, we are more determined and ambitious to leverage the growing opportunities in the market to build a world-class data experience for our customers. Led by our digital transformation strategy, we are well positioned to see strong returns as we continue to be agile and adapt to the fast-changing nature of our markets.”
Also commenting on the results, Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, Managing Director and CEO of Ooredoo said: “Ooredoo Group delivered strong results for the first half of 2022. In local currency terms all our operations have grown their Revenues. Normalized Proforma revenue increased by 4 percent yoy supported by a stable EBITDA margin of 41 percent. The success of our transformation strategy is evident and proven through our improved free cash flow of QR3.6bn, which increased by 10 percent.”
“In our home market of Qatar, we reported revenue of QR3.8bn, an increase of 3 percent, and a customer base increase of 5 percent to 3.2m. Ooredoo Kuwait revenue was up 13 percent to reach QR1.4bn and it became the first telco in Kuwait to obtain a Cloud Service Provider license from the Communication and IT Regulatory Authority. Ooredoo Oman’s customer base increased to 2.9m while revenue was up by 2 percent and EBITDA by 5 percent despite a new entrant in the Omani market.”
“Ooredoo Algeria and Ooredoo Tunisia both reported revenue growth in local currency terms of 4 percent and 2 percent respectively. Asiacell continued their strong performance and revenue increased 3 percent. The integration between Indosat Ooredoo and Hutchison in Indonesia is progressing well, with the merged entity, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, on track to hit its targets outlined at the start of 2022. We look forward to continuing to deliver on this percent despite a new entrant in the Omani market.”
“Ooredoo Algeria and Ooredoo Tunisia both reported revenue growth in local currency terms of 4 percent and 2 percent respectively. Asiacell continued their strong performance and revenue increased 3 percent. The integration between Indosat Ooredoo and Hutchison in Indonesia is progressing well, with the merged entity, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, on track to hit its targets outlined at the start of 2022. We look forward to continuing to deliver on this continued growth and will provide further updates in due course.”
On April 13, Ooredoo Money in Qatar signed a partnership with Thunes, a global cross-border payments platform headquartered in Singapore, to offer real-time money transfers to multiple international mobile wallets
On May 21 Ooredoo Kuwait became the first telecom company to obtain a license for cloud computing services
On July 3, Ooredoo Group announced a joint agreement with international communications company, BICS, to create an innovative voice business model that will deliver innovative solutions in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and fraud protection.
On June 22, Ooredoo Qatar’s CEO, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Thani, participated in the 2022 Qatar Economic Forum Powered by Bloomberg, in a high-level roundtable entitled ‘Tech Cities: Infrastructure for a Connected World’.
During the first half of the year, Ooredoo Group won seventeen accolades at international award ceremonies, recognizing its commitment to market-leading product offerings and innovation.
Ooredoo Qatar reported revenue of QR3.8bn (H1 2021: QR3.7bn), an increase of 3 percent driven by growth in postpaid, Ooredoo tv, Ooredoo Fintech and business-to-business services. EBITDA stood at 1.9bn (H1 2021: QR2.0bn). Customer numbers increased to 3.2m (H1 2021: 3m), a 5 percent increase, in line with population growth in Qatar.
The OTV customer base grew by 10 percent compared to H1 2021, driven by the popularity of Ooredoo tv’s triple play service. Service revenue grew by 5 percent.
